Considered a heritage of the modern movement in Colombia, the Colpatria Tower rises in the San Diego sector of the renowned International Center of Bogotá. With 50 floors and a height of 196 meters, it was the tallest building in the country for many years until the construction of the BD Bacatá in 2016, also in Bogotá. The implementation of innovative construction techniques and its location at the intersection of two major arterial roads of the capital - Carrera Séptima and Avenida El Dorado (Calle 26) - made it an architectural landmark of the city. Its sober and assertive design contributed an unprecedented pattern to the urban profile in the 1970s.
In the mid-20th century, following the initiatives outlined in Le Corbusier's Plan Pilote, the Colombian Society of Architects and several city mayors established arterial axes in anticipation of the city's growth. These axes were accompanied by the expansion of certain city blocks, which would pave the way for the development of ambitious building complexes, heralding the arrival of modernity. To provide the city with new urban profiles, both Carrera Séptima and Carrera Décima were consolidated as major thoroughfares designed to accommodate commercial, cultural, and residential activities, connected by parks and plazas. Through interventions, competitions, technical consultations, and formal innovations, the aim was to bring together diverse uses in potentially dense areas.
As the winner of the National Architecture Award in 1966, the International Center of Bogotá, a project carried out in conjunction with contemporary firms, aimed to bring order and formal sobriety to the city. Within this complex is the Colpatria Tower, designed by the architecture firm Obregón y Valenzuela & Cía. in 1973 as an initiative of the Colpatria Group. After finalizing the designs, the construction company in charge was Pizano Pradilla Caro and Restrepo Ltda., who completed the project in 1978.
The Colpatria Tower propelled Obregón y Valenzuela & Cía towards well-deserved recognition as great masters of modern architecture in Colombia. Their prolific work embodies the beginnings of modernity with exceptional craftsmanship and meticulous execution of their ideas, spanning various types of structures including residential buildings, offices, commercial complexes, rental properties, and state institutions.
For 36 years, the Colpatria Tower was the tallest building in Colombia and one of the tallest on the continent. Upon its completion, it surpassed the International Trade Center (192 meters, Bogotá) as the tallest building in Latin America. In 1982, the construction of the Pemex Executive Tower in Mexico City took its place, and subsequently, in 1983, the latter was surpassed by the Central Park Towers in Caracas, Venezuela. In 2016, it ranked 5th in South America and 26th in Latin America, being surpassed by skyscrapers in Mexico City, Panama, Caracas, and Santiago de Chile. In Bogotá, on April 19, 2015, the construction of the BD Bacatá building began, significantly surpassing the Colpatria Tower and becoming the tallest building in Colombia.
The Colpatria Tower complex consists of a 50-story tower and an adjacent 10-story block on the south side, providing a balanced scale to the ensemble. Within this smaller block, there are commercial spaces, offices, and parking lots. but it is not parallel to either Séptima Street or 26th Street; instead, it is positioned diagonally, facing the Parque de la Independencia. The interior consists of two cores: an external core responsible for supplying ventilation and natural light to the offices and services, with essential structural functions from the ground floor to the rooftop where the heliport and renowned viewpoint overlooking the historic center of the city are located. Meanwhile, the interior core is responsible for housing the central core (fixed point).
In this case, the role of the podium does not conform to the conventional approach proposed by major international references, as the tower directly reaches street level and the podium is understood as a residual space where the two volumes are located without touching. The new construction techniques and earthquake-resistant features of the time revealed a structural design that proved ideal for skyscrapers, providing the necessary elasticity in the case of horizontal movements. Finally, the "tube-in-tube" or "core-in-core" structural system was established, where an inner screen tube is contained by an exterior framed tube. This system had been implemented in the design of skyscrapers in North America since the 1960s, aiming to facilitate the resolution of window openings in the facades of such buildings.
Due to its location on expansive sandy soil, a deep foundation was employed for the Colpatria Tower based on the soil study conducted by Antonio Paez and Pablo Sáenz. On the surface, there are 22 meters of clay and superficial silts, followed by 18 meters of sandy gray clay, 10 meters of cemented greenish-gray clay, 10 meters of Bogotá Formation [pdf], and over 60 meters of high-density yellowish argillite. To anchor the tower, 24 caisson foundation piles were necessary, upon which the podium rests. At a depth of 50 meters, comprising 16 piles with a diameter of 2 meters under the outer tube and 8 piles with a diameter of 24 meters under the inner tube, the solution required more than 6,000 tons of concrete and 3,000 tons of steel. This set a precedent in terms of soil studies and their proper interaction with the structure.
The framed system of the outer tube consists of 4 columns located at each corner, with a thickness of 35 cm and a length of 80 cm. Between the upper and lower sides, 2 columns measuring 90 cm by 40 cm are spaced one meter apart. Towards the lateral sides, there are screens measuring 1.25 meters in length and 40 cm in thickness. The beams that connect the columns have a section of 1.20 meters in height by 0.45 meters in width, with a particular shape. Inside, the joists are equidistant at intervals of 1.8 meters, with a section measuring 15 cm in width by 20 cm in height.
As for the outer tube, the columns that make up the structure are spaced at intervals of 13.05 meters, connected by edge beams measuring 30 meters in width and 75 cm in height. Arranged in pairs, the beams overlap in the rigid core, creating a span of 7.25 meters, each with a width of 20 cm and a height of 55 cm. With these new structural solutions, the installation of windows was more efficient, allowing Obregón y Valenzuela & Cía. Ltda to propose facades with innovative visual effects that would become a memorable element in their work. The pilasters on the facade were precast concrete elements with rough-textured marble, creating a lattice-like pattern that suggests a woven fabric while also serving a structural function.
On the occasion of Bogotá's anniversary in 1998, 36 xenon lights were installed, projecting different beams of light onto the white pilasters. In late 2012, they were replaced with LED lights, as an investment of one million dollars by the company Philips. These lights are spread over a height of 120 meters, spanning from the 12th to the 46th floor. The new system allows for high-quality image projection on each of the four facades. The technique used involved placing the lights on gutters fixed to the facade using impact nails spaced every 40 cm. The gutters are hermetically sealed to ensure complete protection of the cables.
As a faithful representative of the imprint of the modern movement in Colombia, the Colpatria Tower showcases the use of repetitive mechanisms in its facades, and the quest for mediation spaces between the Tower and the public space, accompanied by structural innovation. It continues to stand as one of the pioneering initiatives in urban architecture. As part of the larger project of the International Center, the criteria behind these high-rise building clusters aimed to provide Bogotá with functional continuity beyond the interiors of the buildings, conceptualizing the streets as spaces for multiple uses that enhance socialization among its inhabitants.
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Architects: Obregón y Valenzuela & Cía. Ltda.
- Year: 1978
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Manufacturers: Corev, HID Global, Vidplex
