Puerta de Toledo Social Services Centre

This wraparound arrangement and the modelling of the ground are expressive of the original topography, leaving theplatform outside the excavation operation that led to the opening of the Avenida ' de San Francisco el Grande. Also due to the formal arrangement of this nucleus and that of the Library, on the other side of Calle de Toledo, the Puerta de Toledo is now understood to be spatially connected to the retaining walls that surround the roundabout behind it.

From the new platform you can enjoy a stay on the same roundabout but free of road traffic. This is also the case in the platform in front of the Mercado del Pescado (Fish Market). This public use of the roundabout would not be possible without this general arrangement, which allows the creation of quiet areas free of traffic.

The buildings of the Social Services Centre have been treated in a way that differentiates the nature of their activities and this affects both the specialisation of their programmes and their image and appearance. A very evident intention that explains the forms of these buildings is the very precise care in the scale and presence of these in the roundabout. Disproportionate buildings on the perimeter of the square would have obscured the Puerta de López Aguado and would have been detached from the Fire Station to be preserved.