Special. 100 years of the Gran Vía
Coronavirus: The agony of Gran Vía: there are no queues at Primark
The
Hotel Roma
, the first building inaugurated on Gran Vía in 1915, will reopen at the end of this year transformed into a shopping center with rotating brands.
There is still no poster hanging to replace the one that once bore the name of the original establishment, crowned in turn by a bronze reproduction of the Capitoline wolf, but behind the dusty windows of the plant at the foot of the street you can see the hustle and bustle of the workers who are reforming the interior. In his century and
Long of existence, this eclectic style property located at number 18 of the central Madrid artery has also been the seat of the now extinct
Iberian Bank
, which installed its offices there after the Spanish Civil War.
In recent years, he had also been part of the offices of the Regional Government's Department of Justice, which, among other services, had the register of common-law couples located there.
Dimas Gimeno
, former president of
The English Court
, together with a group of partners, is now finalizing the design of a
marketplace
with fashion, technology, leisure and home brands that will leave
renewing every six months
, as advanced
The confidential
last October.
In addition, as EL MUNDO has learned, the possibility of also installing a restaurant -a decision that is not yet closed- and other entertainment spaces such as a dining room is being studied.
e-gaming
, a study of
instagramers
and a digital museum Located at the intersection of Gran Vía with Calle Clavel,
right next to the Chueca neighborhood
, the new megastore will be called
Wow
, will be focused on attracting firms that were born on the internet so that they have a physical showcase and the intention is to export this pioneering project to other Spanish cities and European countries.
In Dnext Retail, the company that promotes the new shopping center with six floors and more than 5,000 square meters, they confirm that the inauguration is scheduled for the last quarter of this year. The property with three facades in which it will be located is currently owned from
IBA Capital and CBRE Global Investors
and it has the maximum architectural protection -level 1, integral degree-, as confirmed in the Urban Development Area of the Madrid City Council, for which, they specify, the works "will need the approval" of the Local Commission of Historical Heritage .
However, a change of use will not be necessary since the tertiary in an exclusive building that is authorized allows its installation.
A luxury establishment
The original design of the Hotel Roma is by the French architect
Paul Ernest Sanson
, although it was Spanish
Eduardo Reynals
the one that carried out the definitive project of the facilities, inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII.
The establishment was built to replace another namesake located in the neighboring street of Caballero de Gracia, one of the buildings that had to be demolished in order to build the Gran Vía at the beginning of the 20th century. "It had all the luxuries of the time:
135 rooms
, some already with their own bathroom, which was a novelty, central heating, electric elevator, forklift for loading luggage, a library, party room, bar and even differentiated spaces for women and men, such as the
smoking room
", he details
Miguel Lasso de la Vega placeholder image
, Director of the Department of Architecture of the European University of Madrid.Apart from the symbol of the city that gave it its name, the aforementioned Capitoline wolf suckling Romulus and Remus on a Doric pedestal, the design of the hotel included multiple architectural references from ancient Rome , including the use of classical elements such as pediments and garlands that are still preserved in some windows.
The date of its opening came to shine in Roman numerals -
MCMXV
- and the acronyms
SPQR
, associated with the Roman government system of that period. The rooms and common spaces of this building were frequented mainly by aristocrats and businessmen until the end of the monarchy, in 1931. It was they who, according to Lasso de la Vega, contributed significantly decisive for "the Gran Vía to become
the main reflection of progress
in those years not only in Madrid, but even in Spain, with all these monumental buildings ", a sort of" great showcase always associated with luxury, casinos and cafes ".
Later reforms
But then the Civil War came and the Hotel Roma, like so many other buildings in the area, was hit by the shells.
After the war, it no longer reopened its doors with its original use.
In the first of his later reforms
damaged items were removed
of the façade, also the Capitoline wolf, and the interior was conditioned as a bank headquarters in which the offices with office tables replaced the Louis XVI-style bedrooms.
Pedro Navascués
note that the building shows today
"a sober image"
that it is the product of the "continuous decline" of the successive renovations that "were not always for the benefit of the work" and that "subtracted an important part of its personality".
Among other things, the also emeritus professor of the Polytechnic University of Madrid lists as negative aspects the change of the balustrades for iron parapets and the displacement of the entrance door, which at its inauguration had an iron and glass canopy now also In Dnext Retail they do not detail the scope of the reform that is being carried out to condition the 1915 property for an avant-garde commercial space of the 21st century.
The experts consulted agree that
"nothing could be touched"
, given the degree of maximum protection of the same, but that it could be "eliminated negative elements" and recover other originals such as the curved pediments of the first floor and even the characteristic Capitoline wolf.
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