Madrid Nuevo Norte looks to reinvent the city’s northern rail station and district in one of the largest-scale urban renewal and place-making initiatives in Europe to date with a total site of 300 hectares. The project will redevelop more than 2.3 million sqm of the capital city’s landscape with an investment of €7.3bn.
The Madrid Nuevo Norte project will involve the construction of 348 office building, including 3 skyscrapers, adding 1.5m sqm of office space. Housing is another key aspect of the project and the development of 10,500 new homes are included in the project (20% of them as part of affordable housing schemes), as well as 3 metro stations shopping areas and parks. 3 new skyscrapers (785’000 sqm), shopping areas, green areas (400,000 sqm) and public facilities (250,000 sqm) such as schools, health centres, sport centres and civic centres, will turn the northern district into the new business and commercial centre of the Spanish capital city. The development of this new central business district is squarely aimed at enhancing the business and commercial competitiveness of Madrid in the world stage.
Healing an “open wound” in the urban landscape. Chamartín Railway Station
Although it is surrounded by reasonably consolidated areas, Madrid Nuevo Norte is a vast expanse of unused territory 5.5km in length from north to south and 1km wide east to west. Breathing life into forgotten urban areas is crucial for the success of cities throughout the world. Long seen as a gaping wound in the fabric of the city, the ambitious project seeks to heal the dead space created by the existing railway tracks leading to Chamartín Railway Station, and recast the neighbourhood as a thriving sustainable residential and business area.
The new Charmartín Railway Station and Transport Hub is the cornerstone of this project, which follows a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) approach designed to respond to radical changes in mobility behaviour. Chamartín will become a suburban transport hub seamlessly integrating the existing metropolitan transport network – bus, metro and “Cercanías” local trains – with the high-speed rail network (AVE) connecting Madrid to the rest of Spain. Madrid’s Barajas Airport is only a 15-minute train ride away providing excellent links to Europe and the rest of the world.
Madrid Nuevo Norte: quality of life and sustainability
Delivering a flourishing, truly lived-in public space is a key part of the vision, with active transport and leisure areas including walking and cycling paths as well as a string of parks and play spaces woven into its fabric. Residential buildings, office towers and retail and leisure space all pivot around a central green axis laced with parkland, playgrounds and gardens connecting the area to the former hunting grounds of El Pardo to the north of the city.
Smart building and energy efficiency in compliance with LEED v4.1 Cities and Communities Plan and Design or BREEAM ES Urbanism 2020 will define the construction projects to be developed in Madrid Nuevo Norte. Mobility is also a key area for the sustainability of the project. The target is set at 80% of sustainable transport: foot, bike, bus, metro, train or high-speed train (AVE).
Nuevo Norte: already driving urban development in the city of Madrid
Madrid Nuevo Norte is adjacent to the complex known as “Cuatro Torres Business Area” (CTBA), the site of Madrid’s four tallest skyscrapers. The fifth skyscraper, Torre Caleido will be 181 meters high and its building is expected to be completed in 2021. The building will be the lowest of its four companions although its design is completely different to them, following an “inverted T” pattern with its lower levels stretching 370 metres in length. More than €300 million have been invested in developing this project and the 38-story tower will house the first vertical university campus in Madrid: IE University. The building will also house a medical clinic specialized in preventive and sports medicine operated by Grupo Hospitalario Quirón, as well as a sports arena, a commercial area and a large park. Torre Caleido complies with the “Blue Architecture” sustainable principles and will obtain LEED Gold certification once completed.
The Community of Madrid is also carrying out a comprehensive remodelling project of the Hospital Universitario La Paz, the largest hospital in Madrid. Constructions work began in 2020 and the project will expand the hospital’s existing surface area by 25% or 50,000 sqm, with four new buildings and a hotel for patients’ families. The project is expected to be completed in 2030 while keeping the hospital’s services fully operational. The Community of Madrid will invest €500 million in the renovation of “La Paz”.
