High Voltage Laboratory by ACXT Architects
Crinkled polished metal wraps around this electrical testing facility in northern Spain by ACXT Architects (+ slideshow).
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_10.jpg)
ACXT Architects designed the building for electricity firm Arteche to test dielectric transformers on an industrial estate north of Bilbao.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_11.jpg)
Specific conditions are needed to conduct the tests, such as inner dimensions of 57 metres long, 30 metres wide and 27 metres high.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_13.jpg)
A Faraday cage, an enclosure formed by conducting material, encompasses the testing hall that houses spheres of silver disks atop columns of various heights.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_12.jpg)
A two-storey block containing meeting and observation spaces sits to one side of the main volume.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_6.jpg)
These rooms have long windows into the large testing chamber so the experiments can be recorded.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_3.jpg)
The facades of the smaller block are patterned with vertical stripes, mimicking the pleated metal wall behind.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_5.jpg)
A couple of weeks ago we featured another laboratory in Spain that is hoisted up onto red metal stilts and we've also published a photography series documenting the architecture of science and research facilities.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_8.jpg)
More pleated buildings on Dezeen include a wedding centre in Japan with a zig-zagging facade and Zaha Hadid's museum of contemporary art for Michigan State University.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_7.jpg)
See more laboratory design »
See more architecture and design in Spain »
See more pleated designs »
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_1.jpg)
The following text was sent to us by the architects:
This building is a High Voltage Laboratory, for testing dielectric transformers up to 850 kV, which requires to be a diaphanous vessel of 57m long, 30m wide and 27m high (inner dimensions), surrounded completely by a Faraday cage needed for the extremely precise measurements performed inside.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_9.jpg)
The main hall can be divided into three main spaces, suitable for carrying out the Impulse and Resonant Tests, and SF6 equipment tests.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_16.jpg)
Annex to the main space, there is a technical block with views into the testing room, which features two control rooms/reception, a meeting room and space for presentations and meetings for up to 60 people.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_15.jpg)
The new Laboratory is intended as both a laboratory of the most advanced technology in the sector, a representation of the ARTECHE bet on innovation, reflected in a polished metal facade that vibrates and breaks along its perimeter, allowing integration in a volume so important in the environment that is characterised by buildings significantly lower than this building, which reaches 30 metres.
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_17.gif)
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_19.gif)
![High Voltage Lab by ACXT](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/08/dezeen_High-Voltage-Lab-by-ACXT_18.gif)