Edificio Plaza De España

The “Edificio España” is a skyscraper built in the mid-twentieth century, located in Plaza de España in Madrid. With 25 floors and 117 meters high, it is one of the tallest buildings in the Spanish capital and together with the skyscraper “Madrid tower” it is one of the most important architectural complexes in the city. During its history it has hosted hotels, commercial galleries, accommodation and offices. At this time the building is undergoing an integral reform, preserving the facades, the load-bearing structure and the exits of the building for in the future, house the Hotel RIU Plaza de España.

JVVA has carried out a holistic fire safety study in the building, being an important part in the following aspects of the integral reform that took place:
Analysis of the complete evacuation of the building, by creating evacuation models and empirical engineering calculations. From the result of the analyzes, different safety measures were developed and prescribed in order to increase the fluidity levels and safety levels in the evacuation in the conflictive zones inside the building. Analysis of the fire resistance in specific parts of the building so that we could check the adequacy of some deviations from the application legislation regarding structural resistance to fire Design and evaluation using empirical calculations and CFD modeling tools for smoke control systems for rooms that can hold more than 1.000 people. Drawing of strategies to protect against smoke through natural ventilation and pressurization systems of specially protected stairs.