POLYGROUP, participating in the San Fernando City Hall restoration
Our collaboration in the San Fernando City Hall restoration (Cádiz) is one of our most recent star projects. This is an example of Spanish and Andalusian neoclassical architecture and has been declared a Heritage Asset of Cultural Interest. The refurbishment was carried out by Alt-Q Arquitectura studio, which relied on POLYGROUP’s GAMAFLOR Full Steel solution to improve the second floor of the building.
“The aim of this building restoration was to solve several problems it had so far: fissures in the original scale caused by mezzanines or false ceilings; huge cracks and a labyrinthine structure that resulted in the disuse of large areas”, comments María Albarreal, a member of the Alt-Q Arquitectos team and a lecturer at the Department of Architectural Constructions at the Seville University.
Therefore, one of the main objectives, has been to enhance the value of exceptional elements within the building, such as the imperial staircase or the Elizabethan Hall, along with those of newer construction, such as the Council Chamber. At the same time, the project building restoration has contemplated the reconstruction of forms and volumes that had been transformed over time in areas such as the Prison Yard or the Town Hall Courtyard.
Modernisation and respect for the original building by using raised access floors
These large restorations have been approached through an integrated structural and facility design, in which materials have played a fundamental role. In this sense, one of the most important works is the one that has been carried out in the “hidden” part of the building. Because there are their technical facilities represents a challenge of great intervention. To solve this, the architects opted for POLYGROUP’s raised access floor systems.
Specifically, they have used our flooring solutions for the storey building restoration, focused on administrative use: “We needed solutions that would provide flexibility for the implementation of hidden wiring and installations, but which, at the same time, could be removed and accessed from the ground level without affecting the surface of the original walls of the building” explains María Albarreal.
(Details of the GAMAFLOR Full Steel Raised Access Floor system with Polygroup’s HPV Vinyl top covering)
In this case, our GAMAFLOR Full Steel system has been used: an encapsulated steel tile and lightened cement injection, the HPV LIDER EXTRANOVO high-pressure heterogeneous vinyl top covering and our hidden-edge Sovereign® technology with aesthetic results. This system is highly resistant to static and dynamic loads, as well as having the highest fire classification (A1-s1 according to UNE EN13501). It is easy to maintain, clean and it’s, therefore, a long-lasting material.
All of this has respected the high heritage value of the building while improving the efficiency of its facilities by returning the 7-metre high scale to the ground and first floors and thus shaping two new technical floors, one excavated underneath the building and the other one fitted in the roof.