The architects Arturo Franco and Fabrice Van Teslaar, collaborating with interior architect Diego Castellanos, are the authors of the renovation of the entrance hall (Paseo de la Chopera, 14) and the Intermediae space, in which iron and glass are the most prominent materials.

Intermediae occupies an area of 2,700m2 divided into several spaces: two open-plan Naves, the terrarium, the Avant Garden and Estación Futuro (Future Station). The project explored the possibilities of rehabilitating the building despite the ruinous condition it was in and provided a new perspective on how to restore a historical heritage site in a way that reduces the need for intervention to the bare minimum. The basic concept behind the project was the search for balance between respect for the identity of the place itself and the addition of new elements needed to effectively transform it into a space destined to a new use. For this reason, the only industrial materials chosen were ones that could be used directly without practically any manipulation. The intervention won the Building Rehabilitation Award in the 21st edition of the Madrid City Council’s 2006 Urban Planning, Architecture and Public Works Awards, and in 2018 it received the COAM +10 Award.

With a rectangular floor plan and covering an area of 881m2, the former cold room of the municipal slaughterhouse retains its original hydraulic tile flooring. The architectural layout of the nave is made up of 36 reinforced concrete pillars in 4 rows, dividing the space into five naves. Supported by the pillars of the central nave, 9 horseshoe arches hold up a brick vaulted ceiling. It still retains its original appearance and traces of a fire that broke out in the 1990s. With a minimal project designed to conserve and consolidate the elements, the intimate nature of this space has been kept intact, with its characteristic open-plan structure featuring flying buttresses and columns.

The project undertaken at the Central de Diseño involved maintaining the strength of the constructive decomposition of the elements by incorporating recycled and recyclable materials: removable polycarbonate for the illuminated wall, industrial sheets made from recycled car bumpers on the floor, galvanised iron and glass. This L-shape complex regularly hosts exhibitions, festivals and workshops and its different spaces also include a classroom, an office space, and a storage space.

This performing arts complex that covers 5,900m2 (Nave 11 and Nave 12), is the result of the interdisciplinary collaboration between theatre director Mario Gas, set designer Jean Guy Lecat (who has worked with Peter Brook to transform all manner of locations - a gas tower, a quarry, an abandoned factory- into unusual stage spaces), technical set designer Francisco Fontanals, and municipal architect Emilio Esteras.

The project, guided by the principles of reversibility, flexibility and versatility, made it possible to endow the space with multiple stage configurations, introducing new elements and materials (polycarbonate and a scaffold structure) that are juxtaposed to the existing ones and allow a clear reading of the work being presented. The rehearsal rooms of Nave 10 were designed by architect Justo Benito and added to the stage complex in 2009-2010.

This Nave comprises a multi-purpose space on the upper level (El Taller - The Workshop) and an office on the ground floor occupied by the Matadero programming and managing team. The work carried out in this area respected its pre-existing spatial configuration adding only a few new elements. The interior spaces were fitted out with rows of repurposed flat roof tiles from a roof in poor condition; the original tile roof was replaced and the unit structurally reinforced by finishing the interior with recovered wood beams. The most innovative feature is the fact that this is also a bioclimatic project, because on the one hand, the tiles make the building more thermally, acoustically and sustainably comfortable, and on the other hand, the building itself has been reinvented with elements borrowed from its surroundings.

Matadero not only has unique buildings: the space between the naves is also interesting because of its size and urban quality. Located between the naves at Matadero Madrid, these two spaces, Plaza and Calle, function as the great agora and forum of the cultural centre. Open to the public, the two areas articulate the distribution of the different institutions that coexist at Matadero, allowing access from different locations: Plaza de Legazpi, Paseo de la Chopera, Arganzuela District Council and Madrid Río.

Calle Matadero is designed as a cobblestone, pedestrian-only street with granite pavements on different levels, ideal for seasonal outdoor activities. Plaza Matadero is designed as a large, empty and treeless space, unlike any other in the city of Madrid. It has become the Centre’s iconic venue for large-scale outdoor activities, concerts, festivals and markets.

In 2012, Andrés Jaque Arquitectos proposed a spectacular mobile structure named Escaravox for the Plaza. Built on mobile irrigation systems used on farms, this structure served for several years as a stage, a playground, a rest area, a sound system and a projection screen.

Nave 16 is a versatile space covering more than 4,000 m2 that can be easily split into separate modules divided by large steel panels. The architectural project transformed the Nave into a multipurpose space that is in fact the largest venue in Madrid for exhibitions, installations or similar activities. It also contains a number of smaller independent spaces (as many as 5 rooms).

This flexibility was achieved by adding two-tier metal doors that contrast with the tectonic and timeless character of the nave. The versatility of the interior space is guaranteed by the doors which can be turned around very simply. They also provide the space with light and environmental versatility depending on the nature of the activity taking place. The material used to make these doors is steel, whose chromatic quality contrasts with the surface of the building’s shell. It is when the doors are opened that this shell reveals its characteristic structure of thin metal profiles.

The water tower was restored and structurally consolidated not so that it might recover its original function, but rather its spirit as a catalyst and as a point of connection between the different buildings of the complex that today make up the old Municipal Slaughterhouse, endowing it with a new use, both to store water in its tank and to turn it into a visual landmark that communicates the existence of the cultural centre. A new lighting system, the lettering on the tank and its conversion into a reception area are the elements that define this public entrance to Matadero from Legazpi. The tank houses a garden of selected plants in an area designed for rest and enjoyment located between the pillars of the shaft.

The intervention carried out in Cineteca Madrid, which occupies a space of 2,688 m2, conserved the existing spatial structure, distributed into five separate spaces: two cinema halls, a film set, an archive, a canteen and a terrace that can be used for screenings. The old and the new coexist in a sombre atmosphere in which artificial LED lights and projected images are fundamental elements. Worthy of note within the complex are the baskets woven from garden hoses that are designed as luminescent elements that throw light on the ceilings of the cinema halls and the archive.

The essential aim of this architectural project is to connect people, both the general public and professionals, and also ideas, spaces and places. Nave 13 and Nave 14 are longitudinally and transversely connected by prestressed concrete beam bridges that allow the two structures to meet one another. Casa del Lector, with its more than 8,000 square meters, hosts literary events ranging from print media to the new communication formats, from the linguistic to the audiovisual, with particular emphasis on the role played by new technologies and media. In order to carry out its activities, the Casa del Lector has training rooms, a library and consultation area, workshops, inspiring reading rooms, radio and TV sets, an exhibition hall, and an auditorium for 300 people.