Galician Parliament
Project: Galician Parliament
Architects: Andrés Reboredo
Date: 1987-1988
Location: Rúa do Hórreo
In 1987 Andrés Reboredo won the competition organised to select the project that would transform the Hórreo Barracks into the Parliament of Galicia. The large military building that was rehabilitated has a rectangular ground plan, with projecting sections of greater height at the corners. In the middle there is a single courtyard, on which all of the walkways are centred. On the outside, the building has barely been changed, maintaining its severe façade, except for the construction of magnificent railings made of oxidised steel, made up of high and thin freestanding pieces placed edgeways. The railings enable the building's exterior to be seen from the front but, when foreshortened, they become an opaque wall with the singular colour and texture of oxidised metal.
All of the uses and rooms are housed inside the large existing buildings, except the assembly hall, the Parliament's functional and symbolic core, which is designed as a white box in the middle of the central courtyard, connected to the entrance section. This new volume is supported by a reticle of thin metallic pillars, also white, which free its connection with the ground, permitting the continuity of the courtyard's landscaped area. The interior of the assembly hall is completely lined with wood. This material and the large curved forms, which define the layout of the benches, the roof's slatted dome and the opening behind the platform, create a solemn yet pleasing atmosphere, suitable for political debate.
The final intervention in the building that was requested of the architect was the extension of offices for MPs. The solution was the construction of a buried building, connected with the main building and open to small courtyards with trees, like the buried offices at UNESCO's Paris headquarters.
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Galician Parliament
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