COMSA has inaugurated the Cultural Centre of Lugano (LAC – Lugano Art & Culture), one of the most important public facilities built in Italian-speaking Switzerland in recent years, which will be devoted to the visual, musical and performing arts.
The project, worth a total of 144 million Swiss francs, involved the construction of a five-storey structure which includes an auditorium for musical and artistic performances with capacity for 1,000 people, a museum with two exhibition halls, and a smaller area for rehearsing artistic presentations, as well as multipurpose areas, restaurant areas and a bookshop in the lobby. Outside, the square is technologically equipped to accommodate outdoor performances, and a four-storey underground car park has been built with capacity for 300 vehicles.
The walls of the building have been covered with natural stone (green marble from Guatemala) and the exterior facade is glazed. The theatre is also internally coated with natural material (pear wood) and features the most modern and innovative techniques, being equipped with a modular, customisable acoustic wall covering, adaptable for different types of sonority. In addition, all the different areas of the building are heated and cooled using energy from the lake, following sustainability and energy efficiency criteria.
The Cultural Centre of Lugano is located in the historic centre of the city, facing the lake and a park, two of the most components in the shaping of the city. It is a multi-faceted project but all of the elements are integrated into a single space, based on the idea of the Swiss architect, Ivano Gianola, of merging the structure with the natural surroundings.
COMSA has led the execution of the project. In this way, the company has established itself as a leader in the construction of landmark buildings both in Spain and also at international level. Among its most important works are the Museum of Memory and Human Rights (Chile), the Chancellery of the Embassy of Spain in Buenos Aires (Argentina), the W Hotel in Barcelona and the Gran Canaria Arena sports hall in Las Palmas, which was one of the venues of the 2014 World Basketball Championship.
