Ecological Skyscraper

By:  | January - 5 - 2010

Green Skyscrapers
In the next few days we will showcase 25 innovative proposals for green skyscrapers. These projects were submitted for the Annual Skyscraper Competition from 2006 to 2009.

Project 1 of 25

Jaume Canals Parellada, Jonathan Arnabat Vila
Spain


Ecological Skyscraper

Ecological Skyscraper


We designed a building that provides infrastructure, urban facilities, green zone, office and living space. In our view, the real challenge of Mediterranean self-sufficient skyscraper lies not in their design but in integrating these within congested urban areas. What can be designed without damaging historical centres?

Within a well-known base and in the heart of Barcelona, a four million people city-area, the Eixample Quarter, we propose a series of Regenerating Hubs, a 335ft (102m) skyscraper, in essence a mechanism for living, breathing, producing energy, and recycling the huge quantity of waste we produce, for managing scarce resources such as water.

The regenerating hubs, located within the Eixample Quarter blocks.
Provide additional housing for increasingly atomized family structures, to account for the rise in the number of people living alone, reduction in the number of children per family unit, adapting living areas to their specific needs. Hubs would provide accessible housing to both the young and old bracket of the population, with the idea of counteracting rising house prices pushing them out of living in city centres.

Economic hub
Specialized clusters providing workspaces with shared technology. Working close to where you live is made easier, hence reducing traffic and the pollution it creates. Optimizing space on the basis of work schedules.

Social and cultural hubs
Spaces with facilities based on social need, be these of a pedagogic, healthcare, social or leisure nature.

Ecological hubs
Use of clean, non-polluting energies, gathering of organic and inorganic waste, storage and management; centralization of antennae for technology, television, telephony, Internet and radio; collection of resources such as water; attraction and absorption of pollution, creation of large green spaces.  The building is structured along a great vertebral column, centre of communication and access areas. A large perimetal structure is created to support the building height. Housing, workspace and facilities are connected and supported by the same structure. In addition, every house is designed with five ecological and self-sufficient considerations, planned to take care of the management of energy and material resources.

Solar structure
collecting rays through photovoltaic panels, oriented according to the seasons; accumulation of energy, supplying the block as a support to already existing sources of energy; heating and air conditioning.

Recycling structure
conditioning of all housing, workspace and facilities with specialized recycling ducts. Ducts for glass, aluminium, plastic, paper and organic waste, functioning through gravity and suction. Placing of containers below the structure. Conditioning the whole block in order to centralize waste disposal and management.

Pollution and telecommunication
support structure: captivation of dust, heavy particles in suspension, through an electrically charged structure in the housing exteriors. This would result in a large concentration being formed around the building exterior and acting both as a thermal insulator and acoustic buffer.

Green structure
Each living space has a landscaped roof for cultivation of vegetables, plants and small trees and an annexed lateral green house. The green structure articulates the whole building, from the access areas to the heart of each block (as was contemplated by Cerdà) and each of the building decks, thus converting the whole area into a vertical and horizontal green space. The inhabitants will be in charge of a green space equal to the space rented or bought.

Water structure
Channelling of water coming off the decks, filtering and storage. Reutilization for irrigation, WC, washing machines, etc. Water collection from the constructed area’s whole surface and surrounding green zones.


Board - 1

Board - 1


Board - 2

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One Response to “Ecological Skyscraper”

  1. Enrique Ramirez says:

    Very impresive! This is a great idea and design.

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