Tower Block in Durango
2004

This project comes about based on the International Competition organized by EuskoTren. The headquarters building and park are the object of a competition won by Zaha Hadid.
Each design team later developed a tower of flats, all in a row along the north side of the park.
The set of five towers will make up the new skyline of Durango, the motorway, and its surrounding area. Five different pieces will help form the area's diverse and more spontaneous image in spite of its serious character.
The towers supported on common platforms, two by two, the last being free. The one located in Sector 5 corresponds to the first pair of buildings on a common base. With the purpose of minimizing lateral relation with adjoining buildings, Sector 5 is styled with less width and finishing off its length. This gesture becomes more accentuated with a solution of two vertical strips and a central linear hall, which increases the sensation of thinness and contributes to alleviate impact on the buildings opposite.
Flats are preferably arranged on the four heads of the building, with their daytime-use areas facing the views and the horizon. The formal image is emphasized by means of a random steps of the short sides, with overhangs that show the different types of projected housing units on the outside. This gesture happens where the tower is most evident, on short sides, and will be what determines the final image of the Sector 5 tower, "two staggered vertical sheets on its sides". The final treatment in glass on its outer skin helps dematerialize the built volume, absorbing the images of adjacent buildings.