PROJECT STORY
The challenge
To monitor and assess one of the largest and most complex transformation works on historic buildings to date, in accordance with the Equator Principles, right in the heart of Madrid.
Centro Canalejas — Four Seasons Hotel Madrid
Centro Canalejas and Four Seasons Hotel Madrid
The solution
An independent assessment of the environmental and social aspects of this extensive engineering and architecture project, analyzing the management system, its development plans, and its impact on the city and the environment.
The impact
Thanks to Arcadis, the client—the OHL Group—was able to secure financing of 150 million euros, along with the subsequent financial closing of the plan.
More than 100,000 m² of construction
The biggest urban intervention in the center of Madrid to date
Monument rehabilitation
Demolition and consolidation of seven listed buildings into a single center
150 million euros in financing
Monitoring of the works to ensure investment and compliance with the Equator Principles
The largest urban intervention in Madrid to date
A rehabilitation of this scale was unprecedented. It encompassed seven buildings with different degrees of protection, and entailed demolishing them internally and consolidating them into one building. The building facades were preserved and the properties were adapted to house the first Four Seasons hotel in Spain, along with 22 exclusive homes, a luxury shopping mall and 400 parking spaces, just 200 meters from the Puerta del Sol.
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Arcadis was commissioned by the developer, the OHL Group, to monitor and evaluate the social and environmental impact of the project, according to the Equator Principles (EP) at the international level. An investment of some 150 million euros was at stake.
Monitoring a huge rehabilitation
¿What have Equator Principles got to do with the largest ever urban rehabilitation work in Spain's capital, I hear you ask. Well, they provide a framework that helps financial institutions identify, assess and manage the social and environmental risks of the projects they finance. For a project as complex as the Centro Canalejas and with such large capital requirements, the financial consortium required every last bit of information before green-lighting the funding.
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This was a vast remodeling project in the heart of Madrid's historic center, with 8,000 meters of rehabilitated facades, more than 100,000 square meters of construction and over 17,000 items rehabilitated, restored and reinstalled across several renovated buildings, which have been re-conceptualized over seven years by the architecture firm, Estudio Lamela.
On behalf of the OHL Group, Arcadis carried out an independent assessment of the works, analyzing the project's management system and its social, economic and environmental impact over seven years. We monitored a project that involved the partial demolition of listed buildings, and in which constant modifications had to be made on the fly to overcome numerous technical difficulties and to adapt to changes and new requirements introduced by the Madrid city council.
We were also responsible for selecting local alternatives and purchasing the furniture, accessories and equipment during the pilot room phase. We secured exceptional quality at local supplier prices, thus significantly reducing the expected investment in furniture and decreasing the project's carbon footprint by minimizing transportation.
The capital's new luxury complex
Madrid now has a luxury complex befitting a European capital of its stature. The Four Seasons Madrid opened its doors in September 2020, a month before the delivery of the Four Seasons Residences began. Moreover, the Canalejas Gallery is scheduled to open in the spring of 2021. It will house the most exclusive brands and a selection of the best gastronomy the country has to offer.
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Arcadis has been instrumental in a world-class project, in which more than 500 million euros was invested to build one of the world's best hotels and an exclusive shopping center in a unique space in Madrid that will attract quality tourism to the city.
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