Mateo Arquitectura

+Photos

Interior with phantom

A phantom, a place and a space.
Josep Lluís Mateo, September 2009. Banco Sabadell, Diagonal Tower.

Ground-floor lighting for Banc Sabadell by Maurici Ginés

The basic approach of the architecture project and choice of materials was to return to a clear layout of the floor where, in a visually open space, the materials, seen as matter, texture and colour, laid out areas according to different uses or functions. Objectively and subjectively, the materials used bring quality, transparency, reflection and an intelligent composition of space and calm.

The concept of light creates this zoning, highlights the subjective values and communicates the materials—matter, texture and colour—by bringing contrast, balance and a luminosity that is natural, not forced.

Photo: Pedro Pegenaute

The entrance sector is the most contrasting and heterogeneous in its lighting, with spots that generate ordered patches on the floor and ceiling, drawing users inside.

The dark, continuous, high-quality material of the waiting area, along one side, alternates with translucent lighting strips in a crescendo of increasing warmth.

A spherical light suspended at the centre of the great spiral stairway serves to restore the balance of light throughout the space.

The client service sector, marked by a large expanse of slightly sloping false ceiling, a translucent glass triangle, brings texture and artfully natural brightness to the space and the essence of containing a large outdoor space.

Within the architectural project and the intelligent spatial composition, the translucent lighting material, in some cases coloured, acts as a connective element with its different forms and arrangements in the space. Subjectively, the triangle and the sphere, basic forms, generate the balance of lighting throughout the space.