SYSTEM ARQUITECTURA’S WAREHOUSE LOGISTICS CENTER MALAGA: REDEFINING SUSTAINABLE INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN

A New Benchmark for Industrial Architecture in Spain. Beneath its flowing metallic envelope, the Warehouse Logistics Center Malaga by System Arquitectura transforms the traditional industrial warehouse into a sustainable architectural landmark where daylight, movement, and high-performance logistics merge into a new vision of contemporary infrastructure.

Located in the industrial district of Málaga, in Spain, the new logistics hub developed for Mayoral represents a fresh vision of warehouse design where operational efficiency, sustainability, and architectural identity converge. Far from the conventional image of a standard industrial box, this large-scale logistics center introduces a more refined and innovative approach to contemporary warehouse construction in Southern Europe.

Covering approximately 18,800 square meters and rising nearly 20 meters high, the Malaga warehouse logistics center was conceived as a high-capacity distribution facility tailored to the growing demands of the fashion and retail supply chain. The project was designed by the Spanish architecture studio System Arquitectura, under the direction of architect Rafael Urquiza.
Instead of relying on purely utilitarian industrial aesthetics, the building introduces fluid geometries, curved elevations, and sculptural volumes that transform the warehouse into an architectural landmark. Its dynamic envelope evokes the movement and texture of folded fabric, a subtle reference to the client’s connection with the textile industry.

One of the most distinctive features of the Malaga logistics center is its advanced double-skin façade system. The exterior combines perforated zinc cladding with translucent polycarbonate panels, creating a filtered lighting effect throughout the day while enhancing thermal efficiency. This bioclimatic envelope helps: reduce solar heat gain, maximize daylight penetration, lower artificial lighting consumption, and improve overall energy performance. The result is a brighter and more comfortable working environment while supporting sustainable industrial operations.

The project also stands out for its industrialized construction methodology. Large portions of the steel structure and façade components were prefabricated off-site and assembled with high precision on location. Advanced BIM coordination enabled efficient collaboration between architects, engineers, and contractors throughout the development process. This strategy helped optimize: construction timelines, material efficiency, logistics coordination, and execution quality. Several specialized Spanish companies contributed to the project, including engineering firm CEMOSA and construction group SANDO.

The Warehouse Logistics Center Malaga demonstrates how industrial buildings can evolve into visually expressive and environmentally responsive infrastructures. By combining logistics performance with architectural ambition, the project challenges the traditional perception of warehouses as purely technical structures.

technical sheet

project name: warehouse logistics center in malaga ( Nuevo Centro Logístico Mayoral ) 
location: málaga, Spain
client: Mayoral

architecture: System Arquitectura - systemarquitectura.com
lead architect: Rafael Urquiza
engineering consultant: CEMOSA
main contractor: SANDO
facade system: Danpal
building type: logistics and warehouse facility
gross floor area: approximately 18,800 sqm
building height: approximately 20 m

structure: prefabricated steel structure
facade materials: perforated zinc cladding and translucent polycarbonate panels
construction methodology: industrialized and bim-coordinated construction
environmental strategy: natural daylight optimization, thermal performance enhancement, reduced artificial lighting demand
architectural concept: textile-inspired fluid envelope and curved industrial volumes
project status: completed

photography credits: fernando alda (c) 

Through the Warehouse Logistics Center in Málaga, SYSTEM Arquitectura and Rafael Urquiza expand the question of logistics into a broader reflection on the architectural envelope as an environmental, symbolic, and constructive device.

The translucent double skin surrounding the building is not merely a formal gesture; it acts as a climatic filter, controls daylight, reduces thermal gain, and transforms an industrial program into an almost immaterial urban presence.

This approach resonates with contemporary projects in which the envelope becomes a mediator between technical performance, collective use, and architectural expression, such as the Joséphine Baker Dance Hall by ONZE04 in France, where a sculptural textile canopy generates an active public space beneath its environmental structure, or the Étoile Cinémas Béthune by Olivier Palatre Architectes, whose luminous façade operates simultaneously as interface and urban landmark. Similarly, the Gambit Office by Robert Konieczny and KWK Promes in Poland, or the Inapal industrial Unit by Guedes de Campos in Portugal, both explores an architecture in which the object produced within the factory itself becomes a constructive element of the façade, transforming the industrial product into both the architectural concept and a direct extension of the site’s productive function and architectural identity, while the Oberamteistrasse Museum in Reutlingen in Germany, demonstrates how contemporary architectural intervention can establish a dialogue with historical and constructive memory through the integration of medieval remains and modern design 'skin' strategies.

In the Warehouse Logistics Center, the architectural concept emerges directly from the nature of the objects stored within the building itself: textiles. The façade becomes a large-scale interpretation of fabric, a translucent and layered skin whose folds, softness, permeability, and changing appearance recall the material qualities of cloth. In this sense, the stored object is transformed into both the conceptual reference and the architectural language of the project. The double envelope does not operate solely as an aesthetic device, but also as a sustainable environmental system capable of filtering daylight, reducing solar gain, improving thermal performance, and optimizing natural illumination within the warehouse. Through this strategy, the building translates the logic of storage into an environmental and spatial experience, where industrial functionality, material identity, and sustainability become inseparable parts of the architectural expression.