Architect(s): Soriano y Asociados Arquitectos
Address: Abandoibarra Etorb., 4, BILBAO, Spain
Latitude/Longitude: 43.266935,-2.944572
The Euskalduna Conference Centre and Concert Hall was inaugurated on February 19th, 1999 and it is a very unique building. It is one of the flagships of the new Bilbao of the 21st century.
The Conference Centre was designed by architects Federico Soriano and Dolores Palacios to look like a vessel permanently under construction that stands in a dock on the site of the former Euskalduna Shipyardreceived. It has received the 2001 Enric Miralles award at the 6th Biennial of Spanish Architecture.
Design
To build next door to Gehry’s glistening showpiece must have appeared a daunting prospect to this young practice from Madrid. In many ways this building has been designed from almost the opposite point of view compared with Guggenheim. The brief to satisfy rather complex functions seems to have been fulfilled by designing from inside to out. The building sits comfortably in its location and offers a pragmatic and true organic form to bedazzled visitors to Bilbao. These visitors have difficulty registering this building through their dark sun glasses to avoid reflections from Titanium panels in the area.
Enric Miralles’s memory is rekindled by the metal and glass trees outside, leading to the public square.
Multi-purpose centre
It is a 53,000 m2 multi-purpose centre that stands in the heart of the city of Bilbao designed to host many different kinds of corporate, financial, institutional, social and cultural events. It is also the venue of the ABAO opera season, a major event in Spain and Europe and home to the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, a magnificent ensemble whose first concert dates back to 1922.
The building offers a perfect co-ordination of areas open to the public such as its an uditorium, numerous halls, meeting and board rooms. It also includes offices, foyers, exhibition lobbies and service areas. These areas feature warehouses, workshops, changing rooms, dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, etc.
