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Architects: b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos
- Area: 196129 ft²
- Year: 2021
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Lead Architect: Fermín Vázquez
Text description provided by the architects. The Polaris North office building arises from the replacement of a pre-existing building with a new, efficient, representative and functional one, which would also boost the development of the immediate surroundings.
The demolition of the upper section of the original building allows for unconstrained growth from the first floor up, generating a reception area as a loggia with a large porticoed area. On this base plinth, five floors are added with peripheral work areas and a central core with a new distribution of services and vertical circulation. On both sides of the core, there are two courtyards that provide additional light to the work areas, improving the quality and comfort of the user.
The building is characterized by its outer skin, an efficient modular façade with prefabricated and standardized elements, which adapt to different climatic and lighting conditions. In the north, the opaque part of the façade is increased to reduce costs and energy losses; the envelope retreats in the south, creating a green strip for solar protection; and on the east-west façades, the prefabricated concrete mullions are inclined to increase the shaded area.
The space distribution, together with the definition of a perimeter structural line in coordination with the new façade and the use of post-tensioned slabs, allows for a functional open plan layout in work areas, providing versatility for its operation.
Open-plan spaces are generated and materialized by typologies with high thermal and acoustic performance that can guarantee a high standard that reaches the standards of the international LEED and WELL certifications. For this reason, the project addresses the definition of a new general envelope in order to update the building, both aesthetically and technically, to optimize both its overall energy performance and the degree of comfort required to enhance the internal activities and the commercial activities of the immediate surroundings, while increasing the value of the building, including the figurative parameters and its concession as a singular piece and fragment of qualified architecture.
