Resumen:
Built in 1955, the SEAT Dining Hall in Barcelona was the first structure to use aluminium in
Spanish civil engineering, and the building was awarded the first prize in the international
competition held by Reynolds in 1957.
The aim of this article is to study the technical and construction systems used in the SEAT
Dining Hall building as the catalysts of its architectural design. We will begin by placing the
building in its historical context and by presenting its creators. We will then analyse how its
pioneering, externally-visible aluminium structure provides the backbone for the requirements
program. The modern image of the enclosure will be studied as an indispensable response to
the climate in Barcelona. Finally, we will reconstruct the building services system for
hygrothermic conditioning, for which there are no graphical records, in order to evaluate its
ground-breaking techniques and how it is integrated into the building.
In the final analysis, we will see how the collaboration between the architects Ortiz-Echagüe,
Barbero and de la Joya with the engineers was fundamental in this building, which should be
recognized as one of the most innovative, efficient and modern structures which make up the
patrimony, both Spanish and international, of the 20th century