New Basque Health Headquarters in Bilbao

The architecture world is buzzing about El Departamento de Sanidad y Osakidetza, the recently unveiled Basque Health HQ in Bilbao, Spain. The space covers 9,200 sq m set to accommodate 850 workers and visitors, and looks – to this writer’s untrained eye – a lot like a bubble on acid. The irregular angles of the facade result in a continuously changing ambience inside depending on day, hour, and perspective, the lighting coming through all sides of the building similar to a crystal filtering light. From World Architecture News:

The architects describe it as “a very effective mechanism for the integration of urban vitality in the interior of the building. The city is perceived like a multidirectional system of moving vectors.” The façade is also a double skin that responds to energy saving requirements, allowing the abolition of traditional air-conditioning systems and false ceilings, insulating heat, reducing noise and letting in precious natural light.

The building is the creation of Coll-Barreu Arquitectos, a young firm known for their daring, forward-thinking approach to contemporary architecture.

[via The Tastemakers Society]