Hotel Hesperia Tower
SOCOTEC's professional team has carried out the structural design and site management of the construction project of the Hotel Hesperia Tower in Hospitalet de Llobregat.
General information
Date: 2001 - 2006
Client: Richard Rogers y Alonso Balaguer
Location: Barcelona - Spain
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Project summary
The Hesperia Tower is a 105 m tall building designed by Richard Rogers and Alonso Balaguer. A triangular plinth holds up the reinforced concrete tower; at the top, a restaurant can be found in a domed structure that was built at ground level before being hoisted up to crown the building. The hotel’s central atrium is also topped by a “tensegrity” structure perched at a 45‑degree angle.
Project details
The building is made up of two distinct parts. The first is a convention centre across four storeys, two of which are underground.
The second is the tower, which can also be split into two sections. On one side are the components that make up the plinth; on the other can be found the rooms of the hotel. The plinth is a triangular six-storey structure with bars made of high resistance reinforced concrete and laminated steel, plus two basement floors that house the hotel’s communal areas, restaurants, meeting rooms and service areas. The plinth holds up a more conventionally‑shaped structure with 21-storey high reinforced concrete walls. In a daring architectural feat, a panoramic restaurant in the form of a geometrical dome can be found at the top of this second structure. It was built at ground level and lifted in one go. Another highlight is the unusual “tensegrity” structure, which perches at a 45-degree angle over the hotel’s central atrium.
