America's Cup Building

Construction of the new centre for the America's Cup held in Valencia in 2007 was completed within eleven months of receiving the commission. The building and its accompanying park were opened in time for the preliminary regattas, staged in May and June 2006, and constituted the social focal point for the world's premier offshore racing competition. The centrepiece of the reorganisation of Valencia's industrial port, 'Veles e Vents' provides a central base for all America's Cup teams and sponsors and a venue from which to view the cup races, connecting directly to a new park built above a 15,000-m2 parking lot. A 'tail' of elevated public spectator decks stretches out from the building into the port, with bars, restaurants and information points. To the north, a new 100,000 m2 park links the city to the new seafront. The 10,000-m2 four-storey building, sixty per cent of which is outdoor space, consists of a series of stacked and shifting horizontal planes that provide shade and uninterrupted views extending out to sea. Cantilevered slabs create the outdoor viewing decks that surround each floor. The ground floor acts as the reception area for the VIP facilities and has a canal-facing public restaurant and bar. The first floor is public and open to the air with retail facilities and a generous viewing deck that connects to the park. The second and third floors house the VIP facilities: the 'Foredeck Club', a restaurant, a wellness centre and lounges for America's Cup management, Louis Vuitton and the Consorcio Valencia 2007. The building utilises a reduced palette of materials & white-painted steel trims the edges of the concrete structure, the ceiling is constructed of white metal panels incorporating linear recessed lighting, the external floors are solid Brazilian timber decking and the internal floors are white resin. Simple brightly coloured furniture offsets the predominant whiteness of the structure and distinguishes the different areas within the building.