Blue floodlights on Torre Picasso to mark Spain's Presidency of the European Union
05-01-2010
The façade of Torre Picasso is being lit in blue (the colour of the European flag) from midnight on 31 December 2009 to 30 June 2010 to mark Spain's Presidency of the European Union. This is Spain's fourth six-month Presidency since it joined the European Union in 1986.
Torre Picasso is the only privately-owned building in Madrid to go blue during this mandate. The other blue-lit buildings are the Alcalá Gate and the Royal Theatre in Madrid, the Aqueduct in Segovia, Trajan's Arch in Merida, the Tower of Hercules in La Coruña, Bellver Castle in Palma de Mallorca, the Quart Towers in Valencia, the Agbar Tower in Barcelona, the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and the Monument to the Cortes in Cádiz.
All four façades of Torre Picasso are being floodlit in blue. The lighting system consists of 60 floodlights using 1800 W mercury vapour metal halide lamps, ensuring excellent light distribution and colour reproduction.
This type of lighting is widely used in sports stadiums, to floodlight buildings and in applications where good chromatic quality is important.
Torre Picasso, which is owned by FCC, has been a landmark in Madrid since its inauguration in 1989.
Standing 157 metres high, it is one of Spain's tallest buildings; its high-tech design makes it one of the most comfortable, effective and safest smart buildings in Europe.
Torre Picasso has 121,000 square metres of floor space. Occupancy of the offices and commercial premises was 100% throughout 2009, as has been the case uninterruptedly since 1997.
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