Q&A
IE TOWER What is IE Tower? IE Tower is the new campus of IE University and is located along the axis of greatest economic growth and entrepreneurial dynamism in north Madrid. From the 2021-2022 academic year, it will be the home of all the university’s degree programs in Madrid. The new campus has been carefully designed to provide the best experience for students, faculty and staff from all over the world in an environment that invites talent development, embraces respect for diversity and promotes teamwork, entrepreneurship and innovation.
What is IE University’s objective with IE Tower? On its new campus, IE University has poured all the experience it has gained over the last half century into creating a space that promotes knowledge creation and learning beyond the classroom and research laboratories. Bringing together students, faculty and staff from more than 100 countries and from all the academic disciplines offered by the university in the same space, designed to promote the exchange of ideas and collaboration, it offers a unique environment to develop the best talent with a vocation for global impact. IE Tower will promote education as a key to sustainable development. This opening also reinforces IE University’s mission to promote positive change through education, research and innovation. It also
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reaffirms Madrid’s position as one of the world’s leading educational hubs.
What is the height and surface area of the IE Tower? IE Tower has 50,000 square meters distributed in a building with an inverted ‘T’ shape. The basement has three levels and houses the two entrances to the campus from the street, the sports area, the auditorium, the labs and an area with a range of eateries. A green space of more than 7,000m2, and easy access to the city center, along with shopping districts and the main public transport networks. In the first section of the vertical tower, up to the 22nd floor, are the classrooms, the study areas, the teamwork rooms and the faculty offices. This first vertical section is not simply a series of floors, as with most conventional buildings, but contains open spaces among which are four plazas dedicated to IE Universities pillars: the humanities, entrepreneurship and innovation, technology, and creativity. The rest of the tower, up to the 35th floor, contains the faculty club, office space and facilities. From its western access, the campus is 180 meters high.
What is the size of the student population at IE Tower? It has a capacity for 6,000 students.
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Is this the first vertical campus in the world? More and more educational institutions are opting for vertical urban campus projects - located in the center of cities. The new IE University campus has as much surface area distributed below ground as above; the vertical part dedicated to academic life (the first 22 floors) is not a mere succession of levels but a combination of open spaces connected by plazas located on the sides and in the center of each floor.
What subjects will be taught at IE Tower? The goal is to revolutionize academic and social content and formats to offer unique experiences. Students will be able to develop technical skills, adapt to the new global reality, and realize their full potential as individuals through technology, the humanities, developing an entrepreneurial spirit, and connecting with students from all over the world. Students from all of IE University’s undergraduate programs in Business, Law, Architecture & Design, Global & Public Affairs and Human Science & Technology will study at IE Tower.
Where is it located? IE Tower is the Fifth Tower of the Cinco Torres business complex, located next to Paseo de la Castellana in north Madrid.
duate students. In addition to the physical campus, IE University has a liquid campus that connects students and professors around the world face-to-face, hybrid or online.
What steps have been taken in relation to the pandemic? At IE University we have designed health protocols that go beyond the recommendations of the authorities to protect our students, professors and staff from the pandemic. Since the beginning of the academic year, we have conducted more than 16,000 tests, we have monitored the health of students and teachers daily through our app, and we have a health passport to control access to our buildings. IE Tower will have the same health safety protocols, which we will review on an ongoing basis.
What technology will the classrooms have? IE Tower classrooms will be equipped with the technology to deliver both face-to-face and online sessions simultaneously, as part of IE University’s liquid learning model. There will also be spaces for technological immersion, virtual reality and artificial intelligence applied to the programs.
What other locations does IE University have?
How many classrooms and individual spaces will there be in IE Tower?
This new campus joins IE University’s current buildings in Madrid’s financial district for students in Master’s and Executive Education programs; IE University’s historic campus in Segovia, in the 13th century Convent of Santa Cruz la Real, is for undergra-
There will be 64 classrooms, which can be adapted, along with 30 unique spaces to encourage interaction, innovation and creativity, as well as open areas on different floors to promote social and cultural life. IE Tower will have a Venture Lab to accelerate the
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creation of startups, a FabLab to develop architecture and design projects, and an auditorium with capacity for almost 600 people. In addition, it will have more than 7,000 square meters of green spaces and leisure facilities, including a heated swimming pool, gymnasium and sports areas, art exhibition areas, rehearsal and micro-concert spaces, reading and meditation areas, among others.
Does IE Tower have public green areas nearby? IE Tower has 34,000 square meters of public green spaces with gardens, as well as the Vicente del Bosque sports complex, accessible to IE students, just a few meters away.
Are there have good connections with public transportation? Yes. The new campus has numerous public transportation options. Among them, the Begoña metro station, numerous EMT bus lines and the Chamartín train station is a stone’s throw across the Paseo de la Castellana.
Is there private parking? Yes. IE Tower has two parking floors, one for loading and unloading goods and another with 400 parking spaces. The parking lot is accessed through the Cinco Torres exit on the Castellana..
What sports facilities will IE Tower have? IE Tower will have a gymnasium, an indoor swimming pool and racket courts.
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Who can use the IE Tower sports facilities? Through its Center for Well-being and Happiness, IE University will focus on promoting well-being through physical (sport and nutrition) and mental care for our community. IE Tower sports facilities are for the exclusive use of IE University. In addition to sports use, some spaces can be used for events, workshops, exhibitions, etc.
Will there be restaurants in IE Tower? We will aim to provide mainly organic food supplied by sustainable small farms that will meet the nutritional needs for attaining the best personal and professional performance. We will have a 300-seat dining room on the first floor, with coffee/corners on other floors so that students and teachers do not have to leave the building, along with multiple vending machines.
Will the staff and teachers have their own kitchen/ dining areas? Students, staff and teachers can use the dining room on the first floor. In addition, the seven upper floors used by staff will have an office area on each floor.
Will there be an infirmary? Yes, the IE Tower campus will have a nursing team to carry out blood tests and protect the health of the students, faculty and staff of the institution. In addition, the building will have a private clinic attached, and is also located a few meters from the La Paz Hospital, recognized as one of the best in Europe.
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What services will be available near IE Tower? Next to IE Tower there will be a clinic, as well as a commercial, restaurant and outdoor leisure area of more than 16,000 square meters, which will provide a much-needed injection of social life and oxygen in north Madrid.
How many classrooms and meeting rooms will be in IE Tower? IE Tower will have 64 classrooms. There will be classrooms that can be converted to 360Âş seating, classrooms that can be extended to twice their size, an experimental classroom of the future and architecture workshops. There will be 100 meeting rooms and work rooms for students. In addition, the floors used by the staff will have areas for team meetings.
Will the associated faculty have any specific work or meeting space for them? Yes, they will be able to use IE Tower facilities for the development of their teaching activities, as in the rest of the campus
Will there be green areas? Yes, IE Tower has 7,000 square meters of garden areas.
Is the building owned by IE University? No. This is a 20-year lease, extendable to 55 years.
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What measures have been implemented at IE Tower to protect students, faculty and staff from the pandemic? IE Tower is an anti-Covid building. As in the other buildings on the IE University campus in Madrid and Segovia, it has all the facilities to protect the health of students, professors and staff against the pandemic. Among them, the building will have facial recognition access points connected to the Covid-19 Tracer web app and the digital health passport system to validate the entry of students, professors and staff to the building safely. In addition, it will have air filtering and ventilation systems. The convertible classrooms will allow
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double the space if necessary so as to allow for social distancing. The building will have more than 20 smart elevators to provide optimal movement through minimal energy. In addition, IE Tower will have a medical service for testing and protecting the health of the IE community. We will follow the same health protocols we have implemented at all other IE facilities since the beginning of the pandemic.
What makes IE Tower a sustainable building? IE Tower has been build based on sustainability criteria and maximum energy efficiency. Furthermore, throughout 2021, IE University will implement its social impact initiatives within its sustainability strategy as part of its ‘10-Year Challenge’ which sets annual challenges to boost sustainability at the institution between 2020 and 2030. With this objective in mind, the institution is working to train resilient individuals, aware of their potential for change and capable of having a positive impact on the community.
Will the IE University campus in Segovia remain active? Yes, undergraduate students will also be able to study at IE University’s historic campus in the 13th century Convent of Santa Cruz La Real.
Which degree programs will be taught at IE Tower? All IE University’s degree programs in Business, Law, Architecture & Design, Global & Public Affairs and Human Science & Technology will be taught.
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How will students, teachers, and staff be distributed within IE Tower? Will there be floors for classrooms and others for staff? Will students be divided by school? The basement will house unique spaces such as the Fab Lab, the Creativity Center, the sports areas, the auditorium and the dining room. The first floor will also house the Admissions team The tower will be home to classrooms, workrooms, study areas, relaxation areas and plazas. There will also be work spaces for front office employees, program managers, teachers’ offices and teams such as Talent & Careers and Campus Life. Occupying the seven top floors will be senior management, the deans and transversal teams.
Will there be flexible spaces, convertible classrooms, 360º classrooms, and offices shared by different teams? Yes, there will be classrooms that can be converted to 360º auditoriums, versatile classrooms that can be converted to double classrooms and an experimental classroom of the future. In addition, IE Tower will have 30 unique spaces that will encourage interaction, innovation and creativity, as well as open areas on different floors to promote social and cultural life. IE Tower will have a Venture Lab to accelerate the creation of startups, a FabLab to develop architecture
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and design projects, and an auditorium with capacity for almost 600 people. IE University’s new headquarters will have more than 7,000 square meters of green areas and sports facilities, including a heated swimming pool, gymnasium and racket courts, art exhibition areas, rehearsal and micro-concert spaces, reading and meditation areas, among others. The seven floors of offices will be open spaces, with an interior design that will promote team and interdepartmental work.
“IE Tower has been designed to become a benchmark for innovation and technology applied to education.” What are the most important innovations and technology? What differentiates this building from other vertical campuses? IE Tower differs from other vertical campuses in the innovative design of its spaces, which will
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promote a new way of relating inside and outside our institution, and will enrich the experience of our students. Our goal is to have an impact on their lives and on the world through inclusive, equitable, and quality education. IE Tower will have a diverse ecosystem, with students and professors from the five schools that make up IE University from 140 countries with whom they will be able to work, develop joint projects, boost their network and expand their education. In addition, IE Tower classrooms will be equipped with the technology to deliver classroom and online sessions simultaneously, as part of the institution’s liquid learning model. For the 2021 academic year, IE University has launched its strategic commitment to liquid learning, a training model that involves the transformation of the educational experience. The programs stand out for their innovative design that integrates classroom sessions on campus, hybrid sessions with students in class and students connected online to the classrooms, all with the same immersive experience, as well as asynchronous sessions to promote individual work. IE University has more than 20 years of experience in the design of online training programs, was a pioneer in Europe and is considered among the best educational institutions in the world in Online MBA programs in rankings such as those of the Financial Times.
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How do you ensure the safety of a 180-meter building with a capacity for up to 7,500 people? The building has all the security systems required by the authorities to carry out its activities. The construction of IE Tower has been subjected to a rigorous risk analysis in order to provide it with the necessary protection measures.
IE Tower is located in the Cinco Torres complex in Madrid, one of the city’s financial centers. Will the location of the building favor the development of our students’ projects with companies located nearby? Yes, from its new headquarters, IE University will promote urban and social transformation initiatives, energize the entrepreneurial ecosystem and develop new collaborative projects with international companies in which our students will participate.
How will IE University contribute to urban transformation and sustainable development in Madrid? IE University will promote economic and social development in north Madrid. The new building will have a capacity for 6,000 undergraduate students from 140 countries, which will drive the growth of both hospitality and essential services, real estate rentals, etc. As
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far as transport is concerned, the building has numerous public transport options, will also have recharging points for electric vehicles, will promote the use of ecological transport, bicycle parking, etc., to minimize the energy impact on the city.
Are there other vertical campuses in the world? Some examples: In Chicago, Roosevelt University’s vertical campus is 143 meters high The tower of the main building of the Moscow State University stands 240 meters above the rest of the campus. New York’s Baruch College is located in the Newman Vertical Campus in Manhattan.
Will the surrounding business area and entrepreneurial ecosystem benefit from the presence of IE Tower? IE Tower will promote the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in north Madrid through projects developed by the institution’s Venture Lab to promote the creation of startups and facilitate access to investment.
How is the building ventilated? IE Tower has two outer layers of glass spaced 25 centimeters apart, allowing for natural air circulation, which is connected to the building’s air extraction. In addition, the solar control applied to the glass helps to regulate the heat, providing heat in winter and avoiding excess warmth in the summer.
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What makes IE Tower sustainable? Eco-efficiency is one of the key design principles for this project, accredited as LEED Gold: its extensive green areas are combined with a high percentage of exterior views, which guarantees 75% of the total area of the building is illuminated with natural light and has 30% more natural ventilation than the established limit. In addition, it will have an efficient air conditioning and lighting system, intelligent vertical transport and low consumption taps and toilets.
How will the environmental footprint of the building be reduced? To compensate for GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions produced by heating and cooking using natural gas, we are working on a series of environmental initiatives that would include, for example, planting trees. All energy will be purchased from renewable sources certified by CNMC, making the building compliant with zero emissions. Waste management will be carried out through separation (triage) in the building itself. The construction of the building will have LEED Gold certification. One of the criteria applied (sustainable sites) is EAp2 Minimum Energy Performance, meaning that the facilities have been designed to achieve a 10% reduction in consumption compared to a similar, conventional building.
How will IE University promote sustainability through IE Tower? IE University has been promoting sustainability at all levels for years, integrating its economic, social and environmental aspects and recognizing the links between them. In 2021 we will add to the environmen-
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tal challenge set for 2020 (to reduce GHG emissions to net zero by 2030), that of increasing the development of initiatives with a social impact. This initiative is part of the sustainability strategy within the framework of the ‘10 Year Challenge’ which sets annual challenges to promote sustainability in the institution between 2020 and 2030.
Has sustainability been taken into account in the construction of the Tower? IE Tower has been built to meet sustainability criteria and maximum energy efficiency. Our commitment to sustainability has the LEED Gold certification, which
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confirms the fulfillment of sustainable parameters in IE Tower regarding: - Sustainability - Efficient use of water - Energy and atmosphere - Materials - Indoor environment quality - Design
Why is a vertical campus better?
Why has this location been decided for the Tower?
Will it be a building with natural light, taking advantage of the glazing of its roofs?
The decision to create the new campus in north Madrid, connected to the city, to the current campus, to the train station, metro and airport, to facilitate the communication of students from more than 140 countries, is based on sustainable criteria. We minimize long daily routes for a population of more than 6,000 people and promote the use of environmentally friendly transport, bicycles, electric vehicles, etc. with the necessary recharging infrastructure on campus.
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Horizontal displacements are minimal, facilities are centralized in the main tower arteries, space consumption on the ground is optimized, minimizing the impact on the surrounding area.
Its slender proportions and 60-meter façade, north/ south orientation, make optimal use of natural light. In addition, by locating the communication nuclei at either end of the building, it has been possible to have open-plan floors where light penetrates without obstacles.
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The building also uses technology to regulate artificial lighting according to the amount of natural light, along with intelligent lighting control based on movement sensors.
Will it be necessary to always use elevators to move around IE Tower? No, because double-height floors have been incorporated with their own staircases that avoid the use of elevators and promote life inside the building and the creation of community, as well as encouraging social interaction.
Which criteria have been used when choosing furniture suppliers? Suppliers have been selected taking into account proximity factors to boost the local economy, and confirming that they have ISO14001 or other sustainability certifications such as FSC® to ensure that furniture is sustainable. As an example, we have made the classroom tables to measure with FCS® (Forest Stewardship Council®) certified wood.
When does the move start? The move is scheduled to start in July 2021.
Have materials that favor sustainability been used in the construction? Yes. For example the facades have advanced energy control technology, active double skin facade, which collects the heat from the air chamber to be treated within the building. Materials have also been chosen for their recycled or recyclable qualities. As an example, the material extracted from the demolition of the pre-existing concrete on the site of the IE Tower has been reused in the construction.
How will garbage be managed? There will be waste management and recycling systems, along with paperless policies. The interior and exterior gardening will also be sustainable, with the cultivation of species adapted to the local climate.
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What does it mean to integrate all the degree programs of the five schools in one location? This decision will enrich the experience of the students, who will now be with students and teachers from other disciplines and schools. In addition, we will have an integrated knowledge hub that will allow innovation, research and education to benefit from the interrelationship between schools to promote positive change, thus fulfilling the purpose of IE University.
Will students develop new educational experiences in other sectors and disciplines? IE University recreates in any context the same rich, unique, dynamic and participatory learning experience that has resulted in its more than 65,000 alumni leading institutions and entrepreneurial, social and cultural initiatives around the world.
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IE Tower expands the IE undergraduate and graduate campuses, allowing all the disciplines taught by IE University -from Business and Economics to Architecture and Design to Technology or Law and Public Affairs- to have the necessary resources to accurately and effectively recreate the learning experience that is characteristic of IE University. We will advance in programs and research related to technology and to ‘hard’ sciences (mathematics) and data analysis.
Will the new campus also inaugurate new programs? These four degree programs will be taught, which before were only taught in Segovia: -BIE -Dual BBA+Data -BCOM -Dual PPLE+Data
Have the number of graduate students increased in the last year? By how much? What are your forecasts for next year? There has been a 20% increase this academic year and we expect to maintain the growth next year, 2021-22.
In the current context of reinventing work spaces, how has IE Tower been designed as to positively impact the staff, teachers and students, to take care of their physical, psychological and learning needs?
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IE Tower will have large windows that will facilitate the entry of natural light into classrooms and common spaces. It will also have rest and meeting areas to encourage interaction between students, teachers and staff, as well as different spaces to promote work between departments and teams.
Will degree programs be moved from Segovia to Madrid, and will some degrees stop being taught in Segovia and start being taught in IE Tower? IE Tower will offer some degree programs that until now were only offered in Segovia. All of the current degree programs will continue to be available at the Segovia campus. The Segovia campus, in 2021-2022, will also offer these new degree programs: -Dual BIR + BIE -Bachelor in Applied Mathematics IE Tower, therefore, adds to IE University’s educational offer.
Will staff from the Segovia campus be moving to IE Tower? IEU staff currently working in Madrid will move to IE Tower. The Segovia campus will not be affected, with all the degree programs currently offered, and the teams will continue to work there. In addition, in the coming academic year, Segovia will host two new degree programs. IE Tower joins IE University’s current campuses in Madrid’s financial district for Master and Executive Education programs; and in Segovia, for undergraduate programs.
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