Plaça Europa 31

This office building stands in a new business district of high-rise towers. Instead of competing in height, the Spanish design team gave it a compact, low massing and a dark skin that makes it read as a single solid object among the glass towers around it.

The façades are wrapped in vertical metal elements that screen the offices from the street and give the block its depth and texture. Their rhythm changes with the light through the day, from nearly black to a soft grey.

Inside, a tall atrium cuts through the building and draws daylight down to the lower floors. The lobby is a high, austere space of metal and glass, where light from above falls across the walls and floor.