Design Discoveries in Spain: CO’s Interiors Team Explores With Parklex Prodema
Interior Designers Crystal Martinez, Megan Marsh, and Haley Becker from CO Architects were invited to visit the Parklex Prodema Global Headquarters and Production Factory in San Sebastian, Spain, along with colleagues from AC Martin and Smith Group.
"The Forum" central gathering place at The Pearl Innovation District in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The multi-functional "Forum" in the Rutgers School of Medicine in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
By Megan Marsh, Crystal Martinez & Haley Becker
Parklex Prodema products are currently being installed on the interiors of several of CO's recent higher education projects. The Pearl Innovation District, a project in collaborative effort involving Wexford Science & Technology, Atrium Health, and Wake Forest University School of Medicine, is one project that features Parklex Prodema. This project encompasses the Center for Education tower and Research 1 Building. IRCAD North America is the primary tenant for Research 1, which is known globally for state-of-the-art surgical training.
Auditorium at The Pearl Innovation District in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Rutgers School of Medicine at the H-1 Building uses Parklex Prodema in interior spaces of what will be the newest hub for medical education and cutting-edge research. Located at the New Jersey Health + Life Science Exchange (HELIX), this medical school from DEVCO and Rutgers Health will balance high-tech learning spaces, laboratories, and a wide range of amenities for students, faculty, and researchers. In this and many other projects, CO is dedicated to using high-quality materials to boost aesthetic appeal and maintain high functionality.
Our trip took us to San Sebastian, located in the north Basque Country near the France-Spain border. Our hotel featured the Parklex Prodema ‘Naturfloor-W’ in all of the guest rooms, as well as the ‘Naturpanel-W’ on the walls throughout the reception area and hotel restaurant. We were based right in the city center, and our evening walk to dinner wove us from the modern city and then through the ‘Old Town’ where the streets are lined with historical buildings reflecting Basque architecture, some dating back to the 12th century.
The following days were a packed itinerary of factory visits to learn about veneer selections, wood cut types and finishing processes. We attended presentations and discussions about the product applications and sustainability story.
We embarked on a walking tour of San Sebastian, visiting product installations at commercial projects, including Aldapeta Maria Ikastetxea School, a private K-12 school, a local bank and Nobu Hotel and Restaurant.
Our explorations took us deeper into the Basque countryside, visiting product installations at the stunning Landaburu Borda Country House, a centenarian stone manor connected to a new glass and board-formed concrete volume by a glass tunnel. The Parklex product is heavily featured on floors, walls, ceilings, kitchen millwork and showers.
We were all intrigued by many of the design details we saw on the winery tour - stairs, handrails, baseboards, spiral stairs, and millwork. It was educational to see the product installed in so many new ways. We learned so much about expanded and custom capabilities, as well as construction details.
Calatrava’s Ysios Winery
Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum
Two architectural highlights capped off our trip: Calatrava’s Ysios Winery, where we enjoyed the picturesque views of the exterior, with the wavy aluminum roof mimicking the mountains beyond, and then Frank Gehry’s landmark museum, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, where Parklex flooring is installed throughout the galleries.
