Santander Group City

In an international tender run by Grupo Santander, architecture studio KR & JD submitted the project that overcame such bidders as Norman Foster & Partners, Rafael Moneo, and the California-based firm, KMD. KR & JD’s Kevin Roche (Dublin, 1922 – Connecticut, 2019) was a prominent post-modern architect in the US.

Roche studied with Mies van der Rohe. His architecture is best known for its use of glass. In 1982, his magnificent glass buildings earned him the most prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.

His most prominent work includes the emblematic corporate centres of the Ford Foundation in New York City and Fiat in Turin, Italy, in addition to United Nations Plaza and the remodelling of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (also in New York).

Roche’s vision for SGS was full of Spanish undertones, with low buildings adjoined by courtyards and reflection pools. His design met the Group’s environmental requirements brilliantly. In May 2002, ground was broken. Two years later, on 13 April, employees began moving in — 500 at a time. SGC had been finished in record time. By late July 2004, it housed over 4,000 employees. It satisfied employees’ core needs in regard to food, transport, working hours, exercise and childcare.

SGC was the second largest building project finished in Europe in 2003, right behind Madrid-Barajas Airport’s Terminal 4. It connects to the financial centre of Madrid via Spain’s Northwest motorways, the M-40 and M-50 ring roads, and the M-511 road to Boadilla. It also lies along the light rail route that links to Madrid’s regional public underground and bus system.

Grupo Santander invested more than 100 million euros in state-of-the-art fixtures and tech for SGC.

We have enhanced technology in three areas:

· Workstations, which now have useful, cutting-edge desktop equipment.

· Communications, which rely on fast, state-of-the-art multimedia channels.

· Data processing centres, which are designed to keep services fully secure.

Santander Group City was the first project of its kind in Spain — and one of the first in Europe. Because of the project’s unique challenges, construction had to be innovative in order to create a quality environment for employees. In particular:

· The main building’s cupola has the largest skylight in Spain.

· Walkways are made with prefabricated flagstones that are easy to install and enhance water drainage.

· Building façades consist of high-performance glass panes that save energy with 60% more natural light and 34% less solar radiation.

· SGC’s rubbish and recycling is processed through an integrated waste management system.

Santander Group City was built to respect nature. While 30% of its area is urbanized, 70% is green spaces that have been reforested with native trees. SGC’s 69-ha forest, known as El Bosque, features a reservoir that holds up to 150,000 m³ of water for irrigation.

SGC is also plastic-free and highly energy-efficient. Because of shared printers and photocopiers and revamped recycling and waste processing systems to save paper, electricity and water, SGC is “zero-waste” certified by AENOR, Spain’s standardization agency. 

Since 2021, it’s had a produce processing centre that prepares lunch for employees. The centre helps the bank support local growers, promote the consumption of locally grown produce and reduce the environmental footprint and emissions of the Corporate Centre. 

The dining rooms it serves are certified by Ecocook and AENOR for food safety.

As a central services complex, SGC raises productivity and cost savings to boost overall efficiency.

The office buildings’ floor plans and facilities make it easy for all departments at SGC to interact.

From their original design to recent upgrades, the Santander Group City’s (SGC) electrical installations are a global point of reference in energy efficiency. We have changed all our lights to LED bulbs, which gives us an annual energy saving of 1.81 million kWh and enables us to modify production and temperature control systems to enhance energy efficiency at our offices. The SGC also has the biggest solar facility out of any office complex. Our 4.5 MWp facility has over 10,000 solar panels of different power ratings. We generate 6.5 million kWh per year, which avoids the release of 980 tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere. What’s more, we’re planning to install a 5.5 Mwp solar facility at the SGC to take us into double figures of MWp installed and a total of 21,000 solar panels that generate 17 million kWh per year. This would power the entire SGC during office hours and avoid the release of some 2,546 tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere.

Santander Group City is ISO 14001-certified as a “city” with efficient management that meets all legal standards to minimize the impact of its operations on the environment.

Amenities at Santander Group City include a dry cleaner’s, an optician’s, a shoe repair service, a hairdresser's and a bank branch, so employees can take care of both work and personal business. SGC is also a great place for career development, which is one of the Group’s top priorities. 

A corporate centre like this wouldn't be complete without sport facilities. The sports centre has a complete, state-of-the-art gym with studios for exercise classes, an indoor swimming pool, dozens of tennis and “padel” courts, 7- and 11-a-side football pitches, basketball courts, indoor and beach volleyball courts, a modern running track, an 18-hole golf course, a 9-hole par 3 golf course, and a golf school, which are available to all employees. 

SGC's sport facilities promote body, mind and community. This has been a long-time goal of the Group’s global health and well-being programme, BeHealthy. Its four themes are “be balanced”, “eat well”, “know your numbers” and “move”.

SGC also has a fully equipped medical centre whose services include occupational and preventive medicine, rehabilitation, eye medicine, dental care, women's health and dermatology.

On the other hand is the training centre, El Solaruco, in which important events related to the bank are held, such as results presentations, and where many of the Group's employees go for continued learning and specialized courses every year.

SGC also has a children's nursery for up to 500 kids to help with employees’ work-life balance. It’s the largest child nursery programme at any company in Europe and a global benchmark in childcare.

SGC facilities are all connected by an internal shuttle service. It also has 482 accessible parking spaces that allow employees and visitors to charge their electric vehicles.

Santander Group City has the SOLIDUM Seal for Universal accessibility for being a space that anyone can use, even with impaired mobility, hearing, vision or cognitive ability.