Torre Emperador

"Space Tower" redirects here. For space reaching towers, see tower to space. For not to be confused with, see Sky Tower (disambiguation).

The Torre Emperador Castellana, simply known as Torre Emperador and formerly named Torre Espacio (Spanish for Space Tower), is a skyscraper in Madrid, Spain, measuring 230 metres (755 feet) tall and containing 57 floors. It is currently the fourth tallest building in Madrid.

Torre Emperador
View from south-east angle
General information
Type	Office
Location	Pº de la Castellana 259, CTBA, Madrid, Spain
Coordinates	40°28′44″N 3°41′12″W
Construction started	2004
Completed	2008
Owner	Grupo Emperador S.A.U
Height
Roof	230 m (750 ft)
Technical details
Floor count	51
Lifts/elevators	27 (Made by Schindler Group)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Pei Cobb Freed
Developer	Inmobiliaria Espacio
Structural engineer	MC2 Estudio de Ingenieria
Main contractor	OHL
References
[1]

Construction

During its construction on the night of 4 September 2006, a fire broke out on the 43rd floor of the tower. The structure of the building suffered no critical damage, as the fire had only affected some construction materials.^[2]

The structure was topped out on 19 March 2007. That night, Madrid mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardón attended a ceremony with fireworks to commemorate the event. With its 230 m, it also became the tallest structure in Spain at that time, surpassing the telecommunications tower Torrespaña. Torre de Cristal, one of the neighbouring skyscrapers at the Cuatro Torres Business Area, surpassed the height of Torre Espacio in April 2007.^[3]

• 
  Torre Emperador at completion
• 
  Torre Emperador under construction
• 
  Night view of the Torre Emperador
• 
  Close up of the Torre Emperador

Rotating model of Torre Emperador with floors colour-coded by designation. In the SVG file, hover over a floor to highlight it.

The building project was featured on the Discovery Channel's Build It Bigger series due to the skyscraper's unique form and shape.

It was designed by American architect Henry N. Cobb,^[4] a partner in the firm Pei Cobb Freed, and built by OHL.^[5] In 2009, it became the new home of the British Embassy in Madrid.^[6] In 2010, the Embassy of Canada too moved to Torre Espacio.^[7] The Australian and Dutch Embassy are also located in the building.^[8][9]

Since 2015, it has been owned by Grupo Emperador S.A.U, owned by Filipino entrepreneur Andrew Tan.^[10][11] Six years after the acquisition by the Filipino-Spanish company, the skyscraper got its name changed to Torre Emperador (or Torre Emperador Castellana), named after the popular Filipino brand Emperador Brandy, as they announced in a Facebook post.^[12][13]

See also

• Torre Cepsa
• Torre Sacyr Vallehermoso
• Torre de Cristal (Madrid)
• Cuatro Torres Business Area
• Embassy of the United Kingdom, Madrid