Alcalá de Guadaira, Seville.
New research laboratories, control room for the production process, corporate area, and entrance lobby for the research area.
THE CHALLENGE
The Cementos Portland Valderrivas Group is one of the main cement producers in the Spanish market and is active in various international markets. The company head office is based in Pamplona, Spain, and was founded in 1903. The group is listed on the Bolsa de Madrid and controlled by the Spanish construction group FCC.
With the volume of demand for concrete recorded by the factory, as part of its public image, this meant providing its installations with an air of technological renewal and modernity that was in line with the growing interest of its clients in its products.
Less industry, more technology
This was an installation that was very important for the company, that was however excessively industrial and unsuitable for presenting a modern image when it came to showing it to high-level clients with major decision-making power or to potential investors. The company understood that it needed a new space that was modern, lasting, and technologically advanced—one that would communicate quality and excellence to its visitors.
All these changes and visions had to be applied to a space that needed to incorporate production offices, have a highly efficient control room, robotics laboratories, real-time testing facilities for cement, entrances, corporate meeting rooms, and a high-performance data center as part of the same environment.
Moreover, the project could not disrupt the production process, taking into account that operators and technicians were continually passing through the space to be worked on.
The knowledge of Floria
The Floria Group had experience in the design and manufacture of similar installations for companies in the sector. Portland required a specialist that could incorporate and strengthen its corporate image in the installations of this factory, providing them with a more technological appearance that showed quality, modernity, and forward-thinking, based on the belief that a suitable image of its installations would help to sell its products over its competitors.
Floria had to take on the tasks of developing solutions according to these needs by acting as consultant in terms of designing the space, project developer, and potential contractor of the works until the end stage for transfers and management of the changeover.
In brief, Portland Valderrivas asked the Floria Group to design a control room with a hi-tech image that reinforced the identity of the company as one that delivered quality in all of its technological processes. The focus of this project was to preserve the integrity of a major industrial installation and its program, while also providing a unique environment for users and visitors.
THE SOLUTION
Floria Group proposed a space that made it possible to run an existing and operational traditional cement plant, but also one where image, visual language and design created a functional link between old and new.
The developments incorporated sustainability strategies creating favorable environments for work and production. Some of the highlights of these were the use of very long-lasting materials in view of the type of work being carried out in an industrial environment, and the sound insulation of the machinery thanks to ‘silent’ glass.
Staggered work
The works were staggered in such a way that the client could monitor the results being obtained and understand the approach that Floria was taking. Firstly, the laboratories were completed, followed by the control room, and when the client saw the results, more work was undertaken.
A demonstration and educational video was produced on the entire working process of the factory to be shown during visits (university students, investors, partners, buyers, constructors, architects, etc.), as it was impossible for the visits to cover all installations.
The Floria team assigned collaborated with the person responsible for production, the plant director, engineers and technicians from the Portland laboratory.
In addition to developing the project, Floria advised the client on various aspects, including the choice of more appropriate materials for each type of installation and how to minimize maintenance activities.
THE BENEFITS
Portland Valderrivas gained a number of lasting, quality and modern installations at its Alcalá de Guadaira plant that helped to consolidate the brand image of the company and prepared it for potential visits as a technologically advanced group. Floria succeeded in preserving the integrity of the major industrial installation and the requested program by providing the client with a unique and influential environment both for users and visitors alike.
Much more than meets the eye
It is important to note that the objective of the development, as with everything undertaken by Floria, was not just about appearances. A Flora space provides a series of characteristics that modernize installations using an intelligent and realistic design concept to increase the precision of the content, maturity and creative sustainability for the future and thus its operational sustainability.
The ergonomics for the operators in the control room and the interaction between the various work spaces were also improved. A study was carried out on the sound insulation, lighting, the comfort of the workstations, and all of the aspects necessary in places where the working hours are long for many people and where expectations are high.
CONCLUSION
In summary, with the project for Portland Valderrivas, the Floria Group contributed to the modernization of its image and the working processes in the concrete sector in Spain by applying and designing a new space concept that until then belonged to much more technological environments and more innovative sectors.
