Torres Blancas, the architectural jewel of Sáenz de Oiza, will have eight homes on the 22nd floor, where there were previously offices and a restaurant

EM Madrid

Madrid

Updated Monday, February 19, 2024-01:35

The Special Urban Plan for

the construction of eight homes on the 22nd floor of the emblematic Torres Blancas building

in Chamartín, included in the Catalog of Protected Buildings, will be approved today, Monday, by the Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility Commission to raise its final approval. to the Plenary Session of the City Council. According to GRAN MADRID, after the end of the period of reception and resolution of allegations,

the current permitted use of offices will be modified to residential

for the development of this private initiative.

The Special Plan for the construction of these eight homes and the modification of use from offices to residential

has been processed in accordance with the General Urban Planning Plan of Madrid (PGOUM)

, which specifies that any urban intervention that involves an increase in homes or premises with surface maintenance it must meet certain specifications. In this case, the increase is from a single location to eight homes, reducing the maximum occupancy of the floor from 48 to 40 people.

The urban planning proposal proposed improves the evacuation conditions of the 22nd floor, modifies the current access from the mezzanine to the floor, highlights the reinforced concrete structure

respecting the original documentation of its emblematic architect, Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza

, and allows eliminate a private staircase that connects the 22nd and 23rd floors.

This initiative, which arises as a response to the impossibility of implementing its original use as a restaurant due to the capacity problems that this entails,

has the approval of the

building's community of residents, who positively value the conversion and whose changes will also entail , an improvement in the energy efficiency of the building.

Sáenz de Oiza designed the Torres Blancas building in the capital in 1961 for residential use with 21 floors for housing, two finishing floors for social use of the neighborhood and two basement floors.

The 22nd floor housed a restaurant during the 1970s

and, later, a set of offices that are currently disused, now resuming its original use. Although the building is made up of a single tower, its name of Torres Blancas comes from

Oiza's initial intention to build two buildings

.

The property has

a height of 81 meters and a structure formed by cylinders

on its outer perimeter that respond to the constructive experimentation of its creator, with which he won the 1972 COAM Award and the 1974 European Excellence Award.

The commission

has also approved the partial estimation of one of the allegations and the dismissal of others

based on the reports of the General Directorate of Approach. This documentation will be made available to complainants and citizens on the City Council's Transparency Portal once the Special Plan is definitively approved.