New Offices for the Extremadura Government

The abstract and linear appearance provides the precise ambiguity between both urban enclaves at their extremes. The building dominates a large portion of the city from the other side of the Guadiana River. So even when the plot extends longitudinally parallel to the river, the building is oriented transversally to respond to that distant vision. Its glazed interior planes make lighting possible. The rest of the blind wall reaffirms its formal purity. The building extends to form a whole with the alcazaba and thus achieves a large urban façade on the edge of the river.

The discovery of valuable remains from the Roman era during the execution process forced the initial structure to be replaced by another with a reduced number of supports. From the point of view of the necessary dialogue with the archaeological site, the building follows and reinforces the more general aspects, such as the wall or the Roman road that crosses part of the site. The building shelters the ruins and on the ground floor the entrances jump over them, ascending by stairs to the offices. Patios have been opened to illuminate the Roman road. The cistern in the set of domestic remains from the Roman era is preserved under cover next to the main entrance of the presidency in an independent space that can be considered a museum, and operated autonomously by visitors. The west orientation of the face of the building facing the river has required special care in the control of sunlight, which is why parasols attached to the façade have been introduced.

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