PHILANTHROPIST
Luis Valls and the Beatriz Building
The Beatriz Building is one of the most unique office buildings in Madrid. Built in the second half of the 20th century, it is an essential part of the city’s architectural scene. It was constructed in the 1960s on a plot covering approximately half a block in the Salamanca neighborhood of Madrid, bordered by José Ortega y Gasset, Velázquez, and Núñez de Balboa streets, as well as the Núñez de Balboa passage. Historically, this location was home to the Concepción Jerónima convent. The Beatriz Building is named in honor of Beatriz Galindo, “La Latina,” founder of the convent of this order in Madrid, located in the “La Latina” neighborhood.
The History of the Beatriz Building
Its architect, Eleuterio Población Knappe, developed the project commissioned by Banco Popular, using the Lambert Bank in Brussels, designed by Gordon Bunshaft, as a model. Encouraged by the exciting challenge placed in his hands, he envisioned a building with a hard skin, that is, with concrete cladding: the Beatriz Building was the result. Although it received considerable criticism at the time, it is now an iconic construction in Madrid that does not go unnoticed by tourists and locals. “Certainly, the interest this Bank has always had in promoting good architecture is noteworthy,” reflects architect Gerardo Ayala1.
It was a lengthy construction process, interrupted by a legal injunction; after almost ten years, the building was inaugurated on December 11, 1975, and on December 18, the first Banco Popular board meeting was held on the seventh floor.
The inauguration event was simple, with women from the Spanish cultural world playing a prominent role. “This is an event to honor a woman, Beatriz Galindo, and it implicitly honors the nuns who left,” said Luis Valls in a brief speech before the toast, where he proposed honoring Beatriz Galindo before giving way to another woman, Mercedes Fórmica, who delivered the inauguration speech entitled “False and True Forms of Feminism.”
Luis Valls demonstrated his pride in the completed project before the guests: “Ten years ago, when the old Monastery of the Jerónimas was acquired, we did not want the new building replacing it to be architecturally and urbanistically mundane. And here we have an ambitious project that meets both architectural and functional demands.”
The role of the Beatriz Building
Initially, it was intended to serve as the corporate headquarters of Banco Popular Español. However, after strategic reconsideration, it was decided to distribute the bank’s services across different buildings in Madrid.
The building has five lower floors, a ground floor, seven upper floors, an attic, and a penthouse. It was described as: “First-class construction, without superfluous luxuries or ostentation, but with all installations and construction details to ensure maximum comfort and working efficiency. The materials are of maximum duration and minimal maintenance.”2
The presidency, the Banco de Depósitos, and the foundation offices were located in the attics, with the space distributed as follows: “These attics constitute a separate building structure, superimposed over the lawn that seals the waterproofing of the main block’s roof. The activities to be held there are: on the one hand, high-level social events, and on the other, team concentration work.”
Besides a squash court, Luis Valls’ other great passion, reading was evident throughout the building. On several floors there were several libraries, and on the ground floor was the Beatriz Bookstore. Luis Valls’ love for books was such that the first commercial space opened was that bookstore. An important part of that store was the bookseller, Amando, with whom Luis Valls had long conversations. “He knows everything about books,” he used to say.
How the Beatriz Building came to belong to the Foundations
In the 1960s, Banco Popular had several real estate companies in its portfolio, including Vyosa, which owns the Beatriz Building. Vyosa has been responsible for its impeccable maintenance to this day, as it approaches the 50th anniversary of its inauguration in 1975.
When it was already under construction, Banco Popular decided it would not be the bank’s central headquarters or registered office, and only the Presidency would be housed there. At the same time, the remaining floors and commercial spaces would be leased to other financial entities and companies. Luis Valls never supported the Bank’s strong real estate portfolio, and many general service offices and branches were leased. For that reason, he did not want to own the Beatriz Building either.
In this process, the foundations had the opportunity to purchase Vyosa and, with it, the Beatriz Building, in what would today be a standard sale and leaseback operation.
Banco Popular had a small office on the ground floor, some workers on the first, seventh, and the two penthouses. The rest was occupied by other entities, like Banco Popular, on a rental basis. Over the years, major foreign financial companies had offices in the building, offering high-grade and representative office space: Citibank, the European Investment Bank, and JP Morgan are just a few examples.
None of the offices in the building had signs, only the commercial spaces, like the cafeteria VIPS, which was there from the beginning.
The transfer of ownership of the Beatriz Building from Banco Popular to the foundations was not through a donation, as has sometimes been suggested in the press.
Today, the building is the patrimony of the foundations, and for this reason, Fundación Hispánica, Fomento de Fundaciones, and Patronato Universitario are known as “the Beatriz Building foundations.”
Bibliography
(1) In the prologue of the book “La piel dura. Edificio Beatriz, Madrid” by Eduardo Delgado-Orusco (Ediciones Lampreave, 2013)
(2) Issue devoted to “Edificio Beatriz” (Madrid) from Informes de la Construcción, a scientific journal published by the CSIC, edited at the Eduardo Torroja Institute of Construction Sciences (April 1973 – Vol. 25, number 249).