On the edge of the San Blas-Canillejas neighborhood, opposite the Metropolitano stadium, lie the ruins of swimming pools that were never used. This part of the city, marked by infrastructure and the absence of nature, is the birthplace of La Esponja – Centro Acuático, a project recovers and reuses an existing building, converting it into a research center, Education public space.

The project around three main elements: water, phytoremediation plants, and the roof. The architecture is conceived as a sponge that collects, filters, and returns water to the urban environment.

The roof, consisting of a spatial structure (10x10 m, 10x20 m, and 20x20 m modules) made of tubular steel and polycarbonate panels, allows entrance and channels rainwater into funnels that visibly distribute it through nylon gutters. This system, together with different floor levels that can be partially flooded on rainy days, allows visitors to experience the water cycle firsthand.

Phytoremediation plants, which undergo a process using photobioreactors in laboratories, are located in the pool basins and the adjacent botanical garden, where they clean and regenerate the water. Visitors can observe this process from walkways and public spaces, gaining an understanding of how it works. 

Although rainwater harvesting does not cover the building's entire demand, the strategy is complemented by systems that reuse treated water and could connect it to the future wave pool under construction next to this massive concrete structure. 

The complex is organized into two buildings: one private, intended for scientists and researchers, and another open to the public. However, they are all brought together in a place a water feature over which two walkways extend, leading to the two different entrances. The program includes laboratories, a water museum, offices, a library, staff housing staff a restaurant integrated into the botanical garden. The layout of the complex allows for cross ventilation in most spaces, reserving climate control for work areas.

More than just an isolated building, La Esponja functions as a new urban facility. It is a space where people can disconnect from the pace of the city, interact with water and vegetation that are unusual in Madrid, and learn about environmental regeneration processes. It is a facility that seeks to blend in with the surrounding hydraulic infrastructure and offer a public oasis in a neighborhood dominated by large infrastructures and lacking in nature.

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