CTBA

CTBA short for Cuatro Torres Business Area (Spanish for "Four Towers Business Area") is a business park currently under construction located in the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid (Spain), on the former Ciudad Deportiva of Real Madrid.

The area will contain the tallest skyscrapers in Madrid and Spain (Torre Espacio, Torre de Cristal, Torre Sacyr Vallehermoso and Torre Caja Madrid). The buildings are expected to be finished by 2008.

The complex was formerly known as "Madrid Arena".

Torre Espacio

Torre Espacio (Spanish for "Space Tower") is 236 metres (774 feet) tall and has 57 floors.

In November 2006, its structure surpassed the height of the Gran Hotel Bali, thus becoming the tallest building in Spain, although it has retained this title only for a short time (see below). The structure was topped out on March 19, 2007. On the night of that day, Alberto Ruiz Gallardón, mayor of Madrid, attended a ceremony with fireworks to commemorate the event.

Torre Caja Madrid

Torre Caja Madrid (Spanish for "Caja Madrid Tower"), with a height of 250 m and 45 floors, it will be the tallest of the four buildings in the complex, just 89 cm above the Torre de Cristal.

Designed by Lord Foster, it was first known as "Torre Repsol" and would have served as headquarters for Repsol YPF oil and gas company. During the construction of the tower, Repsol decided to change the location of its future headquarters and the financial institution Caja Madrid purchased the building for €815 million in August 2007 [ [http://www.expansion.com/edicion/exp/empresas/construccion/es/desarrollo/1021814.html Expansión.com: Caja Madrid purchase Torre Caja Madrid] . (Spanish)] .

It is being built by a joint venture of Dragados and Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas [ [http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0024336 Structurae database] ] . Its completion is expected in 2008. [ [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2006/05/26/ciudadanom/1148629049.html Elmundo] ]

Torre de Cristal

Torre de Cristal (Spanish for "Crystal Tower") i still under construction as of August 2008. With a final height of 249.5 meters, it will rank as the second tallest building in the country after Torre Caja Madrid. In April 2007, its structure surpassed the height of Torre Espacio, for a while becoming the tallest building and structure in Spain.

It has been designed by Cesar Pelli and is being built by Dragados [ [http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0024337 Structurae database] ] .

Torre Sacyr-Vallehermoso

Torre Sacyr Vallehermoso is a 52-floor 236 meter (774 foot) tall skyscraper, that will be completed in 2008. It has been designed by Carlos Rubio Carvajal and Enrique Álvarez-Sala Walter and is being built by Sacyr Sau [ [http://www.ulma-c.com/Imagenes_N/61_1_ES_Torre%20Sacyr-Ballehermoso.pdf Construction details] ] .

In Popular Culture

The towers under construction were depicted several time in the spanish remakes of the Hermanos y Detectives and Sin Tetas No Hay Paraiso TV series.

Spanish pop singer David Bustamante released one of his albums in the Torre de Cristal attic

The Torre Espacio building project was featured on the Discovery Channel's "Build It Bigger" series due to the skyscraper's unique form and shape.

ee also

* Torre Espacio - convert|236|m|ft|1|abbr=on
* Torre Caja Madrid - convert|250|m|ft|1|abbr=on
* Torre de Cristal - convert|249.5|m|ft|1|abbr=on
* Torre Sacyr Vallehermoso - convert|236|m|ft|1|abbr=on

References

*CTBA article in Spanish language Wikipedia
* [http://www.peri.de/ww/en/projects.cfm/fuseaction/showreference/reference_ID/1003/referencecategory_ID/6.cfm PERI GmbH: Cuatro Torres Highrise, Madrid, Spain]
* [http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/cx/?id=100631 Emporis buildings]

External links

*Renders of the finished CTBA offices: [http://farm1.static.flickr.com/137/348407016_bd8321b2ee_o.jpg] [http://bp3.blogger.com/_m3IiRgNd_Xk/RertdhAdV1I/AAAAAAAABh8/p_HUksp5WMM/s1600-h/renderctbakg5.jpg] [http://static.flickr.com/6/76026955_1680e7066c_o.jpg] [http://static.flickr.com/39/76026952_86179a7e75_o.jpg] [http://static.flickr.com/43/76026954_849d453e3f_o.jpg] [http://static.flickr.com/36/76026953_ff2c80403b_o.jpg] [http://static.flickr.com/38/76026956_9a0f340b90_o.jpg]
* [http://urbanscraper.blogspot.com/search/label/4TORRES/ Panoramics and night pics CTBA.]
* [http://urbanity.blogsome.com/2005/12/21/paseo-de-la-castellana-en-2008/ Link on how those 4 buildings will look like]