It’s not a common thing to find interesting looking industrial facilities, but when it comes to Spanish architects and designers it is most likely to be an eye catcher. CUSWC is conceived an urban stomach, as to swallow garbage close to the place where it originates, separate it to its different categories, compact its volume and ship it to a location for specific treatment, reuse and recycling. All dimensioned to supply the needs of a small community and with no nuisance for the surrounding.

The building itself is just as appealing as the philosophy of this facility. Most examples of this type of use are dull-faced and disrespectful to the surroundings, while the work of the Spanish-based practice of Vaillo & Irigaray (www.vailloirigaray.com) brightens the neighborhood as a clean building of unusual asymmetric volume and color that shelters the heavy machinery necessary for a dirty job. Acoustic and sealing layers protect the adjacencies from noise and smell.

A single material (1,50m x 2,50m lacquered recycled aluminum plates) covers walls and roof fixed in a way that it has the effect of swollen scales in different shades of light green.

Could you imagine if more communities took this cool step in “green architecture”? Our cities would definitely be more environmentally friendly. Not to mention looking a lot better. – Arch Editor André Pinto