The Mediterranean Silicon Valley
On the shores of the Mediterranean, in the Valencia Marina, is becoming established, an entrepreneurial ecosystem based on the creative economy and knowledge. This is where our unprecedented “offices of the future” are rising up: former warehouses built to house the yachts that took part in the 32nd America’s Cup, now turned in to innovation centres that generate talent and opportunities and attract the most creative and entrepreneurial minds. Such is the case of Marina de Empresas, an initiative promoted by Juan Roig that houses the EDEM Escuela de Empresarios university and business school, the Lanzadera incubator and accelerator, and the Angels investment company, a space covering more than 18,000 m2 and home to almost 300 start-ups. In its facilities, collective spaces (a canteen, workshops, a library, an assembly hall, work areas) coexist with others that allow people to really concentrate on their work.
Offices, come hell or high water
The ERRE Arquitectura studio accepted the challenge of recycling the former bases of the BMW-Oracle, Shosholoza and +39 teams. To ensure that the skin of the building would withstand the salt, the sea and the wind, they copied the boats and used Fibreglass Resin, a material frequently used in the construction of vessels and buoys, but totally innovative in architecture. And, applying energy efficiency criteria, they protected it from excessive sunlight by means of different louvre panel systems, depending on the orientation.
“The most important thing about our architecture is not the building itself, but rather what it really makes possible”, José Martí, an architect at ERRE Arquitectura tells us. And this is where David Hart comes in. David is co-founder of Saigu, a brand that sells natural and natural and organic make-up from its base in the Marina de Empresas. The space has been designed with entrepreneurs like him in mind, the users, “to increase knowledge and creativity, to turn work into passion, to create conditions that facilitate their path to success”, comments Amparo Roig.
David has his desk in an open office that can accommodate 256 people, a networking opportunity that he values highly: “Every day you’re in contact
with similar or different companies that have had to face the same obstacles and can give you advice. This contact improves your ability to solve problems”.