A convent houses the offices of the Commonwealth of Pamplona

The drafting of the project and management of the work was put out to tender as a project competition, whose winners were 4 architecture studios: Matos Castillo Arquitectos, Estudio Álvarez-Sala, Rueda Pizarro Arquitectos and Tabuenca & Leache. The proposal maintains the identity of the old convent, by maintaining its volumetric and protected façades, but the lightness of the new interior structure allows greater luminosity and openness to the work spaces of the new offices.

The highlight of this action is that the building has been opened to the city. The Convent of the Salesas, originally, had its access from San Francisco Street and its garden patio was part of the old wall, which avoided the relationship outside the walls. Now, the building opens to the city by accessing the garden patio from Arazuri Promenade, which is understood as a private space open to citizens, in continuity with the free spaces of the promenade and the plaza of the Church of San Lorenzo.

Built in 1905, the convent of the Visitation of Mary housed the cloistered community of the Salesian nuns until 2003. The restoration and adaptation project to accommodate the new headquarters of the MCP has respected the historical value of the building, preserving the façades, the layout of the interior patios and the volumetric of the existing building, as well as it’s Church, which becomes a multipurpose room for events and exhibitions open to the public.

This has to do with the fact that the building is part of the collective imagination of the city and, due to its historical and architectural value, it is protected with grade 2 in the Special Protection and Interior Reform Plan (PEPRI) catalogue of the Old Town and in the Pamplona Municipal Plan.  Maintaining the traces was a mandatory requirement in the intervention but, at the same time, it has been one of the generating ideas of the proposal, by arranging all the rooms around the three original patios, and thus achieving good natural lighting and interesting cross visuals.

The new headquarters has 5,600 m2, distributed over three floors and a basement. More than enough space to accommodate the 200 staff of the MCP and its management company (SCPSA), which previously carried out their work in different locations.

A neutral, versatile and ergonomic design

The equipment proposal has been made by the property. As part of the furniture, the AERO Bench Selfstanding in Aluminium and 2490 mm length has been chosen.

According to Laura Rives, the SCPSA architect who has prepared the equipment proposal, the reason why they chose AERO as waiting bench was its “light and functional design”, but they also considered it appropriate because in addition to being a design bench, “it is comfortable and ergonomic.”

Laura highlights the piece for being “flexible and versatile”, which can be moved, rotated and created different compositions in the cloister patio, which is the waiting room, and can even also be located in the main reception.

On the other hand, although the AERO Bench supports pads in other materials, the project team opted for aluminium to facilitate cleaning and maintenance. This is very important in spaces like this, where a large number of users pass through throughout the day. Likewise, they considered that aluminium was the most appropriate, as it provided a neutral colour that fits perfectly with the installation.

Without a doubt, AERO seems to us to be a very wise choice as a waiting bench for the Pamplona Region Commonwealth, to which we thank for having trusted in our furniture.