Palacio de Hielo y del Automóvil, Beaux-Arts building in Centro district, Madrid, Spain
The Palacio de Hielo y del Automóvil is a reinforced-concrete building on Calle de San Agustín with a French Renaissance facade, one of the first in Madrid to use that material. Inside, the ground floor held a 55 by 28 metre artificial ice rink, surrounded by a Louis XVI-style salon, changing rooms for both sexes and reading rooms in a hypostyle arrangement.
Belgian hotelier Georges Marquet commissioned the building in 1920, making it one of the first structures in Madrid to employ reinforced concrete construction. The structure later transformed from a recreation venue into a scientific research institution.
The building's name links two uses: an artificial ice rink opened in 1922, and the Cámara del Motor y del Automóvil later installed on Calle San Agustín. The rink hosted Spain's first hockey league match on 18 January 1923, between Club Alpino Español and Real Club Puerta de Hierro; Azul Hockey Club won the title that February.
The building stands at the corner of Calle de San Agustín in the Cortes neighbourhood, a short walk from the Hotel Palace and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. It has been empty since 2007 and is closed to visitors while rehabilitation for the museum's second site is prepared, with completion expected around 2032. The French Renaissance facade can be seen from the street.
This structure was one of the first in Madrid to offer ice skating, making it an exotic novelty for the city at that time. This innovation drew people eager to experience modern leisure activities becoming popular across Europe.
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