"The project dates from 1928 but it would not be brought to life until three decades later.
The gas station has a car wash service, electric car charging, store, etc.
I noticed it because of its shape and because of a brand created in this similar category.
They have diesel, diesel pro, gasoline 98, blue...
It was declared of interest and people did not know its history.
"Project
History
The design of the gas station corresponds to a project by Casto Fernández-Shaw , author of three service station projects, one of them for an urban environment and another two for highways, among which the gas station on Calle Alberto Aguilera 18 stands out. for the company Petróleos Porto Pí , which dates from 1927 and is considered one of the masterpieces of Spanish rationalism .
The project for a highway gasoline station carried out in 1928 (the one finally erected on Avenida de Aragón) was not built at that time for reasons that, although they have not been clarified, are probably related to the promulgation of the Royal Decree-Law of 28 of June 1927 , establishing the Petróleos Monopoly and the Royal Decree of October 17, 1927, by which the monopoly was granted to the Petróleos Monopoly Leasing Company, Sociedad Anónima (CAMPSA), which led to the disappearance of the small private oil companies It must be assumed, therefore, that the project was left without a promoter.
Original project (1928)
If in the Porto Pi gas station of 1927 they had already established the three essential elements that were going to define the typology, which are, the canopy, the office booth and the advertising totem, in this second project Fernández Shaw explored the consequences of a change of scale to serve a greater volume of vehicles, expanding the functional program. The booth became an authentic building with a store, offices and warehouses developed in height. The architect organized the complex under the strictest symmetry, with the different elements twinned together. The main body, with a semicircular floor plan staggered on two levels, extended into a five-story prismatic tower with a semicylindrical back to house the staircase. A sharp prow ended in front of the tower, incorporating a sculpture as a cannon or projectile. The project played with the contrast between the horizontal lines of the canopies and the window openings on the lower floors and the strong verticality of the lighting openings and the decoration of the tower. The language was clearly expressionist, typical of the moment, but difficult to transfer to another time or situation.
Capstone Project (1958).
Three decades later, the company Estación de Servicio Barajas, Sociedad Anónima, entrusted Casto Fernández-Shaw with a gas station project to be built at kilometer 12,600 of the Aragón highway, current service road of the A-2 motorway, in the exit direction. From the labeling and graphics of the project plans, it can be seen that the 1928 project was literally used in the administrative processing, although notable changes were made to it during the execution of the work. In general lines there was a simplification of language and suppression of certain rhetorical or redundant elements. The secondary canopies that surrounded the body of the building disappeared, as well as the prow and the symbolic sculpture of the tower. Increased the size of the main canopy, adding a new support loading line, which doubled the service capacity. The columns were reduced from three to two on each load line, creating edge beams above the canopy. As for finishing materials,exposed brick instead of plaster on some walls and creating a limestone plinth with a concerted primer. The vertical lighting holes were made with pavés.
After the changes described, the building turned out to be more robust, simple and functional, adapted to the aesthetics and needs of the moment. The same company commissioned the architect a second simplified version of this project, without a tower and with a single-story central booth, to be built opposite the first one in the direction of the entrance of the same highway from Aragón to Madrid. This new petrol station, whose project dates back to July 1958, was built and remained in service without alterations until the N-II highway was widened, at which time the canopy had to be demolished, as it would have invaded the road. The semicircular booth with offices, shop and toilets is still preserved, provided with a modern canopy on its north face.
Description of the gas station
Its trade name corresponds to "Barajas II Service Station" and it is owned by the company Repsol Comercial de Productos Petrolíferos, Sociedad Anónima. It is located at number 388 Avenida de Aragón, in Madrid, at kilometer 12,600 of the N-II highway, which it functions as a service road.
The property subject to protection has a total constructed area of ??approximately 600 square meters and a floor occupancy of 420 square meters. It is located on a corner lot where there are also two other secondary buildings and various ancillary facilities related to the activity. The environment, very degraded, is made up of workshops, warehouses and industries.
The petrol station building on Avenida de Aragón, number 388, has two clearly differentiated parts: on the one hand, a large reinforced concrete canopytrapezoidal in plan with curved sides and corners, with a surface area of ??340 square meters and an approximate height of 6.50 meters. The concrete slab is flat on its lower face and provided with edge beams on its upper face. It is supported by three load lines, two of them made up of a pair of cylindrical concrete columns and the third by a concrete portico integrated into the rest of the building. On the other hand, the closed body of the building for the store, offices, toilets and warehouses, which in turn is a twin of two volumes: a semi-cylinder two stories high with a semicircular interior void that allows visual connection and surveillance of the part with public access and a prismatic tower with five floors and an open attic, with a semi-cylindrical stairwell that runs through it in the rear area, without clearly defined use and which is currently used as warehouses. It is necessary to highlight within that closed body of building, as a singular element, the aforementioned semi-cylindrical stairwell, with iron bar railings combined with continuous vertical lines of protection as a loom. HeThe flooring of the stairs is made with black Marquina marble on the two lower floors and limestone on the upper ones, differentiating the main area and the service floors. On the first floor, as a perspective background of the double-height space, there is a mural painting signed "Barranco" that represents, by opposing two couples dressed differently, the contrast between the old and the modern.
The front of the tower is crossed by four vertical streets glazed with pavés, while the two sides are crossed by raised bands and topped by oculi at the upper end, creating a sensation of dynamism. The tower thus becomes a true landmark in the landscape, as a warning or call to attention from motorists. Its own architectural values ??and the fact that it constitutes a valuable testimony in the development of its own architectural typology for this type of building, at a time as early as the year 1928, although it was built three decades later, would have been the reasons to request its declaration as an Asset of Patrimonial Interest.
The property is protected in the General Urban Planning Plan of Madrid in force with the catalog number 29,753 and Level 1 "Integral". It is in a correct state of conservation, although somewhat irregular. The windows and glass bands of the tower, made with pavés, present oxidation and multiple fractures in the glass, especially in the upper area. Although the need to incorporate identifying elements of the commercial brand and the activity in a property of this nature is recognized, there is currently an excess of advertising elements that prevent a correct contemplation of the building.
The tower currently presents a beige monochrome finish that is not suitable to highlight its formal characteristics. The recovery of the original polychromy of the borders and highlighted bands is established as an objective for future interventions. The aesthetic improvement of the luminaire system on the underside of the canopy and the ordering of strange or advertising elements located under the canopy or in the building envelope are also established as an objective.
On the contrary, the dark gray treatment of the upper reinforcement beams of the canopy is considered adequate, instead of the initial white color, since it acts as a neutral background for the activity identification labels and highlights the geometry of the slab of reinforced concrete.
Patrimonial protection
In February 2016, its declaration as an Asset of Patrimonial Interest (BIP) of the Community of Madrid was initiated , which would be approved in August of that same year, preventively granting it the code RBIP-2016-000004."
(
visit link)