BTEK Technology Interpretation Centre. ACXT.

The BTEK building designed by Spanish architecture firm, ACXT showcases a flexible, highly energy efficient interior, and a shape that communicates the client’s logo and corporate identity.



The Biscay Technology Park is located near Bilbao. BTEK (technology interpretation centre) is its first completed building – a landmark for the park as well as an important design benchmark for future constructions.



The centre’s two, apparently freestanding, pyramid-shaped buildings are actually connected underground and offer the initial visual impact.



You enter through the first building, which features three metallic facades. Visitors go along a narrow, 18-metre high “ravine” to cover the three-level exhibition route, which also takes you into the second building, designed as an extension of the land.



The centre’s compactness gives it excellent heat insulation and protects it from direct sunlight, keeping down the environmental impact and reducing its energy demand, which is covered by renewable sources.



Accordingly, it uses geothermal heating and cooling, with a heat recovery system. Soft colours and natural, diffused light bathing the interior from the north make artificial light superfluous during the day.



The building’s structure means its roof is also one of its façades, in no way spoilt by the perfectly integrated solar panels used for its 60 kWp photovoltaic system, which completes the sustainable design solutions.





The BTEK’s triangular shape reflects the client’s logo, making it not only a landmark but also a clear communicative device.

Architectural design and landscaping: ACXT Architects - Gonzalo Carro López, Javier Pérez Uribarri, Carlos Guimaraes
Location: Bilbao, Spain
Year: 2010
Photos: Aitor Ortiz