Spanish Train Station Transformed Into Gorgeous Daylit Office for Casa Mediterraneo

In the Mediterranean city of Alicante, Spain an old railway station has been transformed into a vibrant daylit office for <a href="http://casa-mediterraneo.es/">Casa Mediterraneo</a>. Architect <a href="http://www.manuelocana.com/">Manuel Ocana del Valle</a> helped the diplomatic institution equip the existing station with the spaces required to effectively sustain the organization’s program. Casa Mediterraneo is committed to fostering a common identity for the Mediterranean Villages, and this new headquarters offers a beautiful example of how the organization can reinvigorate old perceptions.

The glass pavilions allow for great interaction throughout the day.

The design team separated the spaces within the 3100 square meter railway station's shell into individual smaller pavilions surrounding a larger 1500 square meter hall.

he large hall was once dark and dank, however it has been changed into a multicolored, ever-changing stage for events, parties, and exhibits.

As the architect describes it, “a Klein-blue, translucent roof filters the incoming sunlight which, after reverberating through a vibrant, circular-patterned aluminum lattice, dyes and excites the old walls and floor, flooding the space and turning it into a sea of blue shadows”.

The daylighting within the office space is brilliantly white, while the large hall dances with colors at different times of the day.

The long linear lines of the old railway station were preserved in an effort to not hide what this building used to be.

The pavilions within the railway station are daylit, naturally ventilated, and surrounded by vegetation, which grows in ceramic pots. In an era that is pushing towards all new construction interventions being designed in a sustainable fashion, the new Casa Mediterraneo is a fresh perspective on <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=adaptive+reuse">reusing abandon buildings</a> for new purposes.

This section shows the relationship between the old railway station and the new pavilions created for Casa Mediterraneo.

The plan illustrates the scale of the pavilions compared to the large 1500 square meter exhibit area.

The improvements made to the Benalua railway station lie at the intersection of modern design and cultural preservation.