Vitro Cristalglass Supplies Glass for Expansion of Madrid’s Reina Sofia Center National Museum

Supported by Spain’s Culture and Education Ministry, the museum is one of the most significant icon buildings in Europe.At the project’s presentation ceremony, the renowned architect and creator of the museum’s new design, Jean Nouvele, said, “The final project to expand the Reina Sofia National Museum is the one I wanted, and is in line with what I envisioned.”

Nouvele expressed his satisfaction with the exceptional finishing touch that the new building will achieve, “It’s simply something you just can’t find anywhere else; it challenges time.” During the ceremony, which was attended by Luis Alberto De la Cuenca, the State’s Secretary of Culture, Nouvele confirmed that the construction will be concluded by the end of 2003, and he expects the museum to be one of his “building stars.”

The new expansion will be built with glass, metal, and granite and be comprised of three integrated structures united by an approximately two-acre atrium, which will host temporary exhibition areas, a library and an auditorium. At the same time, the Reina Sofia Museum is hosting a Jean Nouvele exhibition of the famous French architect’s most important building designs, including the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, the Peking National Opera Building, the Paris Arab World Institute, the Guggenheim Temporary Museum of Art of Tokyo, and the Congress Cultural center of Lucerne, among others.

“Each new construction’s quality standards are tougher, especially in important icon buildings. Competition in the market is tough, and suppliers have to deliver timely products that meet high professional standards. Vitro Cristalglass is aware of this environment and leverages its competitive advantages to provide consistently superior performance every single day,” said Isaac Prado, Commercial, Technical and Marketing Vice President of Vitro Cristalglass.

The company’s executives agreed the museum’s construction board considered four key competitive advantages when selecting Vitro Cristalglass: the high level of coordination between the commercial office in Madrid and the manufacturing facility in the province of Leon; the delivery schedule and product quality compared with the competition; and the company’s vast experience serving icon building construction customers.

In addition to this important project, Vitro has participated in the construction of key icon buildings worldwide, such as the L’Oceanographic Museum in Valencia, Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum, the Walt Disney Conference Hall in Los Angeles, the Winter Garden Atrium in New York, the Torre Mayor in Mexico City, the “Satellite Building” of the Barajas-Madrid International Airport, Galerias Valle Oriente in Monterrey, as well as the remodeling of Victoria’s Secret shops in the U.S., among others.

Vitro Cristalglass is Spain’s leading fabricator, distributor and marketer of architectural and construction flat glass products and, through its Vitro Chaves subsidiary, is a leader in Portugal. The company has almost 550 employees and recorded sales of approximately US$90 million in 2002.
Vitro Cristalglass has five facilities in Spain: three flat glass production facilities in Camponaraya, Villadecanes (province of Leon) and Fuenlabrada (a suburb of Madrid); and two distribution facilities in La Coruña and Valencia.