The new Campus of Justice in Madrid is the largest single site dedicated to law courts in Europe. Following the master plan, Foster + Partners has designed two distinct circular buildings, Tribunal Superior de Justicia (High Court) and Audiencia Provincial (Appeals Court).

Both buildings have been designed to minimize unwanted solar gain, while allowing natural daylight inside. As a key part of this environmental strategy, ABI systems were used to develop a customized shading scheme. Within the Audiencia Provincial, the shading units will occupy the central circular atrium as well as the eight peripheral atria. For Tribunal Superior de Justicia, the shading units will occupy the trapezoidal central atrium.

Each building will use ABI's Strata™ system; when extended, the system will cover the triangulated roof grid. When retracted, their profile will 'disappear' into the structural profile of the roof.

During the day, the primary function of the system will be sun shading. A custom algorithm combining historic solar gain data with real-time light-level sensing will control the shading units.

AP:

6,000 sq. meters of shading area
System Geometry: Hexagonal
Number of operable units: 257

TSJ:

2,000 sq. meters of shading area
System Geometry: Parallelogram
Number of operable units: 115

Materials: Aluminum, Steel
Control System: Each unit driven by a servo motor with custom array control

Architect:
Foster + Partners

Interior renderings by Foster + Partners