BIG’s design proposal for the Joint Research Centre in Seville inspired by the architectural vernacular of the southern Spanish city, delivers on JRC’s commitment to sustainability, unites the European vision of the New Bauhaus initiative, and establishes a new benchmark for workspace that empowers knowledge sharing, collaboration and co-creation.
Located at the former Sevilla EXPO ´92 site, in Isla de la Cartuja, the new 9900 m2 building for the European Commission, ties into the City of Sevilla’s goal to become a global benchmark for sustainability by 2025 and the local vision of the eCitySevilla project to decarbonize and transition Isla de la Cartuja to 100% renewable energy sources.
The JRC building will house 12 research units and supporting functions as well as public and private outdoor spaces. The international design competition kicked off in 2021 with 66 offices competing for the project, expected to break ground in 2024.
Photo: BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
“We are extremely excited to announce this incredible design for the new JRC site in Seville as we launch the New European Bauhaus Lab,” said Stephen Quest, JRC Director General.
“The “NEB Lab” aims to create enabling conditions for the green transition and drive tangible transformation on the ground. The new building for the JRC Seville site is the ideal opportunity for us to “walk the talk”. The future building will be one of the first examples of architecture entirely inspired by the values of the New European Bauhaus, while achieving maximum energy efficiency and life cycle sustainability, an issue of outmost importance today.”
Inspired by the shaded plazas and streets of Seville, BIG proposes to cover the entire project site with a cloud of solar canopies sheltering the plaza, garden, and research building underneath, akin to the pergolas typical to Seville. The canopies consist of square lightweight PV sheets supported by a forest of slender columns. The roofscape cascades down from the center of the site to a human scale height at its periphery creating a variety of public spaces underneath it.
“With our design for the Joint Research Centre in Seville, more than anything, we have attempted to allow the sustainable performance of the building to drive an architectural aesthetic that not only makes the building perform better but also makes it more inhabitable and more beautiful - a new Andalusian environmental vernacular,” said Bjarke Ingels.”Having started my studies as an architect in Andalusia and later returning to ETSAB in Barcelona, to now having a 50-person BIG office in Barcelona, this project feels like coming full circle.”
Photo: Playtime “When we visited the site in Seville last year and carefully reviewed JRC’s ambitious goals, we realized the potential to not only meet but exceed the requirements of the new JRC by creating a new breed of building – one that could become a beacon for sustainability, the future of public space and work environment - a single system tailored to Seville’s social and physical vernacular,” said Joao Albuquerque, Partner, BIG Barcelona.
