WPP Madrid

As part of its workplace transformation project for the WPP, BDG architecture + design has created an impactful and dynamic campus for WPP’s operating companies in Madrid, accommodating circa 2500 employees. The relocation to central Madrid, supports WPP’s strategy to increase the diversity of their workforce and participate actively in the communities where they live and work –breathing new life into a difficult building and providing economic stimulus for the area. The former Telefónica headquarters on Calle de Ríos Rosas, in the Chamberí neighbourhood of central Madrid, had been derelict and gloomy for the past 8 years and the welcome arrival of WPP has transformed this eyesore to a source of life, injecting into the city a much-needed dose of regenerative optimism. The building has innate assets: the largest single floor plate of any office building in the centre of Madrid, at 7,000sqm and the highest floor-to-ceiling heights, just short of 5 metres. 26 Rios Rosas is at the scale of an urban block, located in a mixed residential and commercial area. The scars from the terrorist attack in the 1980’s (by separatist group ETA who purposefully targeted and bombed the telephone network) were still visible in the building fabric when BDG began to creatively re imagine this existing structure as a vibrant hub for WPP’s Madrid based companies. Each of the 30+ companies have a sense of ownership over their spaces, balancing branded and brand-neutral environments. The most noticeable change to the public is its façade, consisting of the replacement of the 140m long North and South facades, with high quality glulam timber framed glazing to the North and minimal aluminium frames and louvres to the South, which respectfully reflects the beautiful University of Madrid Mining and Energy Faculty building on the opposite side of the street. The newly defined double-height reception, sets a tone of openness and airiness that is synonymous with the design, as well as providing a physical and visual link to the building’s 3,000sqm of split-level outdoor space at the rear of the building. This external space was previously an unused asset, and now has been transformed into a courtyard garden, landscaped with species appropriate to Madrid’s altitude and harsh summer climate. The garden has connections to a café and shared workspaces at ground floor and to the canteen, restaurant, and bar spaces at lower ground level. The project included the refurbishment of the existing core, and the addition of a new core, the latter provided the opportunity to add dedicated lifts to the building’s top floors, creating another major transformation in the form of a dedicated event and conference space, a 150-person theatre and a terrace – a destination both during work hours, and beyond. The agility of the architecture is key and BDG’s process of robust on-site analysis with each incoming team has informed the initial arrangement, inbuilt flexibility was created through walls sitting below the ceiling and service grid, means that dismantling and rearranging them as required is uncomplicated, quick and minimally disruptive, thus future proofing the space.