Wednesday, 24 February 2010

you say lattice, I say lettuce





The site for the City Hall in Noain (northern Spain) is located in-between a heavily built urban area and a car park. Due to this, ZON-E Architects decided to create a common ground between the two spaces landscapes. Looking at the building, the viewer will notice that it's composed of different layers. A strict geometric layer and a organic lattice. The inner layer is strictly geometric, is formed by a double translucent skin separated by a buffer zone which helps passive cooling and natural day lighting for the building. Meanwhile, the organic shape consists of an external membrane in a metallic lattice. The idea is that, creeping vegetations will grow up the lattice and change the appearance of the building at different times of year thus helping with solar shading and being deciduous will allow for passive heating in the winter. The architects didn't just stop there; they installed a geothermal heat pump, 70m below the building to create electricity. Overall, with all these sustainable technology, the building's carbon emissions have been reduced by 60%.

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