Foster Pavillon Inaugurated

The courtyard of an old palace in Madrid is the setting for the Foster Pavilion, a space where objects and audio visual materials will be displayed. The architectural design of the Pavilion was created by Norman Foster within the Foundation.

The Client’s high technical quality requirements qualified FRENER & REIFER from the beginning as an ideal partner for the design engineering, fabrication and installation of the building envelope in glass, and the development of the oversized swing door.

The glass facade of the Pavilion, which serves as structure to hold up the roof, consists of nine large, supporting windows. The entrance swing door has an elegant, light appearance, despite its 5.6 x 2.8 m dimensions and 3 t weight. As with all the facade elements, the swing door was prefabricated by hand to millimetre precision at the FRENER & REIFER production hall in Bressanone, before ‘just-in-time’ transportation to Madrid for millimetre precision installation.

The almost transparent new building fits seamlessly into its century-old surroundings. The interior of the Pavilion, in which the advancement of architecture, design and technology is to be promoted, is an appropriate reflection of FRENER & REIFER’s 40+ years of intensive engagement with these fields. The Bressanone-based company’s technical know-how enables it to continue finding new ways of making architecture come to life, as demonstrated by the realisation of the Pavilion’s facade.