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Architects: Cristián Fernández Arquitectos
- Year : 2012
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Manufacturers : Budnik, Covering Chile
Text description provided by the architects. This building, located in the most important and modern offices neighborhood in the city of Santiago, called "Nueva Las Condes", is owned by an insurance company, belonging to Banco Bice, Chile. This proprietary company leases the building to the international firm Deloitte, who will be the users of the building for a period of 20 years minimum.
We as Architects, were commissioned the design and development of the project from the property managers, Colliers International.
Subsequently, by means of a private contest, we were commissioned the 18,500 m2 indoor area for the Deloitte offices.
This building, to be used by Deloitte, requires all international standards to classify as a Class A building with Leed gold certification.
From the first office building we designed in 1996, we have had great sensitivity and concern to incorporate the necessary elements to allow energy savings and user comfort into the architectural design. We integrate the concept of "Appropriated Modernity", which is simply incorporating the specific characteristrics of location, climate, culture and local identity, avoiding an uncritical copy of the strong influences we receive from the north.
Among the requirements requested was to generate a rectangular plan with dimension preset by the user. This, plus the demanding local regulations regarding building conditions, define the volume of the building.
Issues related to the design of the facades were studied from at least five variables, to reduce the heat gain from solar radiation as much as possible, and allow the entry of natural light into the offices. (In Santiago de Chile, due to its latitude, the biggest problem is how to cool buildings, as we have a large amount of solar radiation)
A.- Study of shadows cast by neighboring buildings.
We built a geo-referenced model that incorporates neighboring and newly constructed buildings. With special software, we did six measurements in the hottest periods of the year (from mid-spring, summer and mid-autumn). With this exercise we could build a map of incidence of solar radiation in the different sectors of the facades, according to the shadows cast by neighboring buildings.
B.- Differentiated analysis for the four facades.
This analysis also considered the orientation of the facades. The result was that the facades more exposed to solar radiation accumulation were the west and north facades.
C.- Optimization of the angles of the facades, according to orientation.
In the different facades, we placed the windows in more tangent angles to the angle of solar incidence at the most extreme times, which marks a difference between the natural angle of the building and these combinations of angles of the different sections of the facades. These combinations of angles generate a wrinkled facade, in the manner of a bellows.
In these angle combinations, we seeked more length in the more tangent sections, and less length in the sections with more exposed or perpendicular angles to the solar radiation.
D.- Incorporation of opaque panels, according to height and orientation.
In the composition of the facades, we incorporate opaque panels, which nullify the caloric impact of solar radiation on the facade.
These panels are inserted, depending on the study of shadows cast by neighboring buildings and the facades orientations.
According to the study of cast shadows, the result was that the highest areas of the different facades have a greater number of opaque panels, as these areas receive a higher amount of solar radiation.
According to the analysis in terms of orientation, there is an increase of opaque panels in the west and north facades. The opaque panels are strategically placed, in the short lengths with a perpendicular angle to the solar incidence, allowing an optimization of the variables of closing out solar radiation, but without losing natural light.
E.- Incorporating solar protection eaves.
The geometry of the facade is made from the combination of modules that generate different angles, in the manner of a bellows, this naturally generates a large percentage of the facade surface to be protected from the incidence of radiation on the more vertical angles that occur in summer. The distance of the glass panes with the virtual perimeter of the building creates a shaded area on the facade.
All these variables are achieved with only three repetitive modules with their symmetric pairs, using software to study the combinations of angles and the location and number of opaque panels, trying to optimize the variables discussed above.
LEED
The Rosario Norte building is undergoing certification process under the LEED system, seeking access to the Gold category with a total of 62 points.
This score is divided as follows: 23/26 points for sustainable sites, 7/10 points in efficient use of water, 14/21 points in energy and atmosphere, 3/14 points in materials and resources, 12/15 Indoor Environmental Quality points and 2/5 points for innovation in design.
To get this score, it has been necessary to engage all project participants and their specialties to help achieve the goal of sustainability of the project.
Thus, this project has among its merits: The reduction of annual energy consumption by 30%, the reduction of water consumption by 35%.
Furthermore, the project collected both energy efficiency strategies and bioclimatic architecture considerations since the beginning of the design phase, emphasizing the study of radiation and shading of the facades. The result is a facade design that improves the performance of the building.
The project has a continuous thermal envelope, where we made a proper selection of high-performance glass. We also incorporate materials and the latest technology in their specifications. These include the use of regenerative lifts, selection of materials with low VOC, recycled content materials and the incorporation of regional materials.
In addition, we have implemented plans in the construction phase as control measures for the management of air quality during construction and plans to reduce the emission of dust and contaminants outside the construction site.
All these strategies are intended not only to achieve an efficient and low-energy building, but also to improve the indoor environmental quality for its occupants.
