Plaza del Grano

Our first competition on public space: the refurbish of a plaza with accessibility problems.


La Plaza del Grano is located in Leon, a city in the central part of Spain. This plaza, despite its beautiful realization, actually lacks of accessibility for the disabled and of a good draining system that would allow the water to flow. Besides, the municipality also wanted to provide a clear frame for the bars in the Plaza.


So we started from the actual setup of the plaza.


Then we defined the main circulation paths that would occur to minimize our intervention.


We optimized these paths to fit with the environment.


And gave a subtle definition by giving 2m to the perimeter ones and 1.5m to the ones in the centre.


Finally we located the bars and made clear surfaces to host them.


This paths will host also all the needed infrastructure: drainage, telecommunications... but also a system of geothermic heat that would create clear paths in the hard winters and would acclimatize the outside spaces of the bars to allow using them in winter.


Following this rules we created this plaza with a system of paths that would make the plaza full accessible for everybody, respecting to the maximum the memory, the current state of the plaza: the existing pavement but also the fountain, the cross, the trees...


This way the whole plaza becomes a used space, with the clear contrast between the existing pavement (that remains untouched) and the new pavement (that solves all the problems of the plaza and allows the other to exist without problems). One of the structures of the bars is forgotten in the middle of the plaza creating a lamp or some kind of door (or will maybe become goalposts...)


Here we see the existing pavement covering most of the plaza, the new pavement (a concrete done with the removed stones to give the same appearance), the position of the drainers that will make the plaza clean and the position of the outside dining areas.


A study of the sun shows the new outside dining areas and the plaza in the middle of the street system.


The outside dining area is created by a system of three vertical posts that host two horizontal posts. From the horizontal three different cloths cover jump in different directions to create the shadow space. An additional vertical cloth cuts the wind.


The outside dining areas are always a coordination of two structures, creating a more compact one for the winter, protected from the winds, and a bigger one for the summer, expanding the limits of the concrete space.

An example of one terrace in summer, surrounded by the existing pavement and with a view to the fountain.


Paths in the facade are a slightly wider and always have a geothermic heating system. The dining structures are cloth surfaces floating over the sitting.



A view of the plaza in summer. The plaza remains untouched but all the problems are solved.


A view of the plaza with its surroundings.


More about this project under the "leon" tag
http://raichdelrio.blogspot.com/search/label/_leon

More information about us at
http://www.raichdelrio.com/