Architecture & Web Art

Archive for the ‘Administrative Buildings’ Category

The project is now completed, the photos by Iwan Baan and a complete set of drawings and diagrams courtesy of REX.

Despite the mix of the existing concrete structure with the new additions and the complex inner core (dubbed the “showcase”), the exterior of the building is read as a whole. The structural “X” of the glass panels on the facade break the monotony of the box on the outside, contrasting with the mirror like finish of the volume on top.

The “showcase” fills the central void with a mirror finish that turns the volume into a sculpture (as seen on the photos and on the showcase elevations below), while housing different programs that benefit from the arrange of the boxes, such as the auditorium, meeting rooms and showrooms.

Architect: monovolume architecture + design
Location: Kurtatsch, Italy
Project manager: Pedó Pobitzer
Project team: Christian Gold, Barbara Waldboth, Amgelika Mair
Structural Engineering: Baucon Bozen (Ing. Neulichedl Simon)
Client: Rothoblaas limited Company
Building area: 3,700 sqm
Budget: 5,5 Mil. Euro
Project year: 2005
Photographs: Oskar Da Riz

The Rothoblaas office is a large scale commercial operation specializing in assembling systems and power tools for the woodworking industry. Warehouse and commissioning are situated on the ground floor and a showroom can be found on the upper floor. The aim of the project was to create a compact building with a high level of recognition.

The building as corporate identity of the enterprise; contemporary and representative of the company. This has lead to a functional, compact structural shell, provided with a glass envelope. The main building material employed is wood in order to show the own products.

Architects: Roberto Puchetti, Max Rengifo
Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Cient: Instituto Nacional de Higiene “Rafael Rangel”
Built Area: 13,000 sqm
Year: 1998–2007
Project Manager: TEXNE Consultores de Arquitectura, S.A.
Civils and Structure engineer: Ing. Manuel Ramírez
Electrics and Data engineer: Ing. Roberto De Adessis
Mecahnical engineer: Ing. Víctor Salazar Amana
Fire strategy: Arq. Miguel Sureda
Quantity Surveyour (COVENIN): Ing. Carlos Otamendi
Technical Consultants (Laboratorios): Instituto Butantãn, São Paolo, Brasil
Photograhs: Roberto Puchetti, Max Rengifo

The new Vaccines Production Laboratories and Administrative buildings of the Venezuelan National Hygiene Institute “Rafael Rangel” are part of a group of new buildings within the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas. The project started as a competition organized by the architecture faculty of the Universidad Central de Venezuela and included a shortlist of emerging architecture studios. The project from architects Roberto Puchetti and Max Rengifo was selected as the winning scheme.

Citigroup’s new data center outwardly showcases its green credentials throught the extensive use of recycled and locally sourced materials and alternating green facades – a green wall on one side of the complex and a fenestrated window panel on the other. Whereas the green wall serves to insulate the building’s interior, the fenestrated window offers daylighting while providing the opportunity for natural ventilation. The facility is topped off by a vegetated green roof that actively keeps the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter while absorbing rainwater. Plant topology was carefully selected to enhance the operational energy efficiency of the building.

While the building’s envelope aesthetically projects sustainable design practices, the most radical green innovations occur on the inside. Citi Data Center will use only 30 percent of the power required for services that a typical data center would utilize, and only requires 40 percent of the heating energy. Additionally, through the use of innovative reverse osmosis water treatment for cooling, the building will save 50 million liters of water per year.