The Mayoral New Warehouse Logistics Center / System Arquitectura

Situated within the Mayoral campus in Intelhorce, Málaga, the Mayoral New Warehouse Logistics Center, designed by System Arquitectura, represents a harmonious fusion of modern architecture with the existing industrial landscape.

Embracing urban context

The new building is located on the Mayoral campus in Intelhorce, Málaga, next to the protected warehouse designed by Vázquez Molezún and rehabilitated by the same team in 2018. The project’s concept revolves around urban planning within the complex adjacent to the existing warehouse.

The high-storage program required the new building to reach a height of 20 meters with a floor area of over 15,000 square meters, making it a massive volume very close to the existing building, which is only 11 meters tall. Therefore, it needed to be handled with the necessary sensitivity to integrate seamlessly with its neighbor. This integration extends not only at a volumetric level but also at a conceptual level, aiming for a common language rooted in the textile industry that both buildings represent.

Innovative Design

Two driving ideas for the project emerged from this condition: (1) the break from the conventional rectangular prism for this typology by curving its facades and distancing itself as much as possible from the existing building to soften the significant height difference between the buildings and their volumes. (2) The search for an envelope with a textile language that engages in a dialogue with the original warehouse, exploring, the concept of transparency and opacity of fabrics.

The five large arches forming the four facades are further subdivided into a series of smaller arches that blur the solidity of the large volume, giving the final appearance of a building wrapped in fabric, reminiscent of the artistic expressions by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in various works around the world. From a technical perspective, the project is based on two fundamental pillars: prefabrication and energy efficiency.

Technical Excellence

The entire project has been prefabricated in the workshop and assembled on-site, except for the foundation and some minor components. Prefabrication, combined with the use of BIM technology throughout the design, project, and construction processes, has allowed for the precise adherence to timelines and the budget for the project.

The triangulated tubular steel structure was manufactured in Lalín, Galicia, and its beams, with spans of up to 32 meters, were transported to the site for meticulous assembly, including the spiral staircase over 16 meters in height. On the other hand, the folded zinc sheet facade was manufactured in Asturias, and the interior polycarbonate skin in Álava.

Sustainable Solutions

The 20-meter-high facade is composed of two layers: an inner layer of translucent polycarbonate that provides insulation and waterproofing and an outer layer of micro-perforated zinc sheet that allows the passage of natural light while protecting the polycarbonate from direct solar radiation, thereby improving the thermal transmission coefficient of the facade. The combination of both creates an interior volume naturally illuminated along the entire height of its four facades, minimizing the use of artificial light and regulating the building’s energy consumption.

• Architects: System Arquitectura
• Area: 18814 m²
• Photographs: Fernando Alda
• Architect In Charge: Rafael Urquiza
• Techical Architect: Rafael Roa Hernández
• Industrial Engineer: Alberto Urquiza
• Engineering: CEMOSA
• City: Málaga
• Country: Spain