Under the motto of ‘Intelligence for life’, the Spain Pavilion aspires to be an example of intelligent creativity, capable of uniting people behind sustainable initiatives in science, technology, manufacturing, education, and art. The pavilion is around 5,800 square meters and has a big plaza covered with 14 stunning cones, so tall that they are visible from the whole Expo grounds and that represent Mediterranean culture and Spain’s connections with the Arab world. The cones shade the circular plazas and are coloured in the warm hues of red and yellow from the Spanish flag, serving as natural cooling towers to expel hot air and lower the temperature inside the building – an eco-friendly cooling technique that generates energy savings for the pavilion and eliminates the need for air-conditioning units. It also includes ultra-light and flexible solar panels for its façade.

The project design provided for such a complex building was very scarce and was not detailed enough to proceed with the construction without further design development and engineering, especially under the very limited time frame and COVID pandemic work conditions.

Thanks to our design expertise, we completed the design of the building – including its cone structures, fit-out, façade and membrane system – with a fast-tracked progressive delivery method that allowed us to overcome the delays arising from design development and countless variations. By applying our expertise in DfMA and modular constructions to such complex projects, we managed to improve the delivery schedules by maximizing offsite prefabrication and by enabling multiple factories to manufacture interconnected steelwork at the same time, resulting in improved delivery times. Our construction management team successfully sequenced the design and construction works under tight time frames, allowing for a smooth and uninterrupted progression and ultimately for a successful opening before the start of the World Expo event.