New BBVA La Vela headquarters

This corporate headquarters of one of the most important banks in Spain has already become a reference in the field of construction in Madrid. Designed by the prestigious Swiss architectural firm founded by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron.

The 114,000 square meter complex with two types of buildings. Seven low-rise buildings and a tower house more than 6,000 employees. The Vela, so named by the employees, is a 93-meter-high tower that stands in the middle of a large square 100 meters in diameter. The city's buildings are named after the different continents and the streets that separate them are named after seas and oceans. The aim was to convey the global nature of the BBVA Group.

BBVA's new headquarters has 49,000 square meters of glazed facade protected from the sun by 2,800 louvers. A double layer of two panes of glass separated by argon gas has been used to provide soundproofing from the outside. All employees have natural daylight and work in an open-plan environment, with numerous formal and informal meeting spaces. One of the most spectacular spaces in BBVA City is the treasury room: 1,600 square meters where 400 traders carry out more than 8,000 financial transactions a day.

The BBVA City has more than 31,000 square meters of green areas. In addition, all the roofs are covered with Mediterranean plants. Rainwater is collected and reused for irrigation through a system of channels. Gray water, from the toilets for example, is also reused to reduce water consumption. It is currently the largest office complex in Europe illuminated with LED technology. It also has an energy consumption monitoring system that receives information from presence sensors installed in all the buildings.