Edificio BBVA, Office building in Gran Via, Bilbao, Spain.
The BBVA Building is an office structure in Bilbao featuring three facades facing Ledesma, Gran Via, and Alameda de Mazarredo streets. Corinthian columns decorate two of these facades, giving the building a classical appearance with refined architectural details.
Pedro Guimón drew up the project in 1912 for the Banco del Comercio. The building was later renovated by Ricardo de Bastida, and after Bastida's death Francisco Hurtado de Saracho finished the work. BBVA later sold its old Torre Banco de Vizcaya headquarters and established its Bilbao base here.
The building is topped by a small temple dedicated to Mercury, the Roman god of commerce, made by sculptor Moisés de Huerta. It sits above the corner where Gran Vía meets the Alameda de Mazarredo, so it can be seen from both streets. The choice of Mercury ties the ornament to the banking use of the former Banco del Comercio headquarters.
The building stands at the corner of Gran Vía de Don Diego López de Haro and Alameda de Mazarredo, at number 12 of the Gran Vía, in the Indautxu district. The Banco de España branch in Bilbao faces it across the Alameda de Mazarredo, which helps with orientation. It is an office building, so the facades are seen from the street.
The building is owned by the Mutualidad de la Abogacía, the Spanish lawyers' mutual society under the Consejo General de la Abogacía Española, which bought it from the RREEF fund (Deutsche Bank group) for 100 million euros. BBVA continues to lease the premises, and the bank's registered address is at Plaza de San Nicolás 4.
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