Edificio Capitol

Also known as the Edificio Carrión (Carrión building), it is one of the most well-known buildings on Madrid’s Gran Vía. The fourteen-storey building was a project by the architects Luis Martínez-Feduchi Ruiz and Vicente Eced y Eced, and it was built between 1931 and 1933. It is Art Deco in style, using materials such as marble and granite, and the Rolaco-Mac firm was in charge of the decoration and furniture.

But what was most noteworthy at the time was the advanced technology it incorporated, such as the use of Vierendeel-style concrete beams, fire-resistant materials and the cooling system, the first centralised one in Madrid, which occupied a whole floor. It received several design and architecture awards at the time.

The original project was for 64 apartments, a hotel (the Capitol, which currently belongs to the Vincci group), a café, a bar, a restaurant, a seltzer water factory and offices and ballrooms. On its lower floors, there was a cinema for almost 2,000 spectators: the Capitol cinema. In 2007, under the direction of the architect Rafael de la Hoz, a full restoration was completed, which eliminated all the advertising from the façade except for the Schweppes sign and a more modern one on the roof for the Vodafone mobile phone company.

In April 2018, it was declared a Monument of Cultural Interest (BIC) by Madrid's Regional Government, on account of its architectural style and its iconic status on the Gran Vía.