More images hereProject: Arquia Caja de Arquitectos ( Bank Interior )
Architect: NoMad
Glass manufacturer: Schott
Location: Bilbao
The bank interior is made up of more than 300 of the tubes, some of which are up to 3,150mm in length, form the membrane-like office walls. The tubes are made of Schott Duran, a borosilicate glass that is particularly resilient and transparent, making them suitable for pharmaceutical and industrial uses.
Manufactured specially for the Arquia Bank scheme, the tubes have an outside diameter of 150mm and a wall thickness of 9mm. They cost around €15 (£12.57) per kg, compared with a standard tube of 10mm diameter and a wall of 1mm which would cost around €5 (£4.30).
The bank interior also needed something impressively distinctive since Arquia has a tradition of showcasing original design in each of its 24 branches across Spain. With the design stakes particularly high in Bilbao, Nomad looked outside the usual stock of materials to find a completely new way of creating internal walls.Text:bdonline
Photographs:Miguel De Guzman
