Building Design Partnership - Retail Development - Madrid, Tres Aguas

Date: 23 Aug 2002

Tres Aguas is a new Retail and Leisure development located near Alcorcón in the south west region of Madrid. The scheme is an ‘edge of town’ development for Lendlease Europe Ltd, designed and implemented by Building Design Partnership and scheduled to open at the end of September 2002.

The scheme provides two levels of retail and leisure use generating approximately 65,000 sq m GLA anchored by a 15 screen multiplex cinema and an El Corte Inglés supermarket, with several homeware and fashion MSUs, including Zara and Gap, as principal tenants. The scheme also contains a family entertainment centre with 10-lane bowling alley and a health club for Holmes Place. Two levels of car parking under the building provide approximately 3,200 spaces.

The project takes its reference from the town of Avila located to the north west of Madrid and articulates a contemporary interpretation of a ‘walled town’ with the building façades punctuated by a series of vertical towers set in a new landscape. The development consists of two adjacent sites separated by the Calle el Salvador pedestrianised street.

The main cultural reference is the circular form of the Plaza leisure space at the centre of the Calle el Salvador, creating the civic heart of the scheme and visually uniting the two sites together. The Plaza and leisure content forms the main point of difference of the Tres Aguas project, compared with other schemes in Madrid, and forms three distinct leisure spaces :-

 The Paseo – an adult/family mix of bars and restaurants with external terraces and a lively night time atmosphere
 The Plaza – a more formal ‘event‘ space with access to the foodcourt, cinemas and family entertainment centre
 Children’s Park – ‘Fun’ sculptures and playground with picnic area and access to McDonalds and family areas.

The narrative-based approach to the interior design creates a contrasting ‘feel’ and quality to each of the interior spaces, reflecting the distinct qualities of the retail offer in each space, yet based on the underlying concept of the whole scheme. The introduction of natural light is treated differently in each of the interior mall and hall spaces to further re-iterate this approach.

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