Santander Corporate: first phase

The Santander Auditorium and Module 9 together constitute the first phase (of five) of a comprehensive remodeling project of Banco Santander's corporate headquarters in Mexico City.

This phase focuses on the first floor, remodeling the common areas starting with the design of the main lobby, with the two main projects on either side of it.

Santander Auditorium

The purpose of the project was to renew the image and facilities of the auditorium—with capacity for up to 240 people—and to make the space more efficient, as well as to ensure the accessibility of the venue and optimize the available square meters. The result is a timeless, warm and functional venue that is now the main conference space within the headquarters.

Following an analysis of the acoustic properties of the project, two dividing walls were removed to improve sound quality and open up the spectators' line of sight. Solid oak and barrisol ceiling panels were used on the stage, while the stage space itself was increased and the walls were covered with marimba-type acoustic panels.

An acoustic textile panel was added in the control booth, the lateral circulations were enlarged, and the carpet was changed. The project also involved renovating the auditorium access lobby with solid oak wood laminates in the elevator area, two collaborative modules and the outdoor lounge.

Module 09

This project was proposed by Santander as a dynamic area that would respond to all the needs lacking in the existing spaces on the first floor and in the corporate headquarters in general. An environment that did not belong to any particular team, where interviews for new candidates, internal meetings and work areas for employees from other states and countries, who are working for a short stay in the Santa Fe corporate headquarters in Mexico City, could take place.

A disruptive design was the way we approached the project from the very beginning and when we saw the result, we thought it was the best way to describe it. Today we know that the space is a victim of its own success, since so many people want to use it that access to the recreational area had to be limited to allow everyone to enjoy it.

In this area there are informal presentations, parallel interviews with potential new members, internal and external meetings, and even recreational activities as a complement to the employees' dining room.

Within module 09 we can find 2 private rooms for 1 or 2 people, two boardrooms for 4 people, a workspace for itinerant teams or boardroom for 10 people, more than 3 collaborative rooms, wooden bleachers as a complement to the play area that can be adapted for presentations, an independent worktable, a large high bar next to the service bar and even ping pong and foosball tables.

Although all these environments are well defined in the project's program, the name and use they receive is as variable as the user's needs at the time of use.

All these flexible spaces are configured from this axis and are distinguished from each other thanks to lattices and screens that divide them, but at the same time, and thanks to the semi-transparency of their materials, they are integrated as a single space that can fulfill different functions, both for informal work meetings, independent work areas, etc.

A direct connection with the garden was from the first day the objective to achieve with this design. A diagonal guiding axis distributes the different types of space framing the corridor that allows to go from the main lobby to the corporate gardens.