Consorcio Building - Green Building in Concepcion, Chile
Green Trellis Filters Light - North Elevation
Vegetated buildings are becoming the new Icon of Green Architecture.
ArchDaily.com has a short post on the Consorcio Building in Concepcion, Chile by Architect Enrique Browne. The stunning use of mass, scale and proportion plus a lot of vegetation add up to a great composition. But ArchDaily gives us very few details on the nuts and bolts of this structure, leaving this green blogger to wonder if this should be shown or not.
Obviously I decided to post this. I believe this is a great example of what a green and vegetated building can look like. Enrique Browne has a great sense of proportion and he addresses the pedestrian / urban experience with a first level that interacts with the street.
What is missing is a green building standard for Chile. Many countries have adopted green building standards, there is even a World Green Building Council that helps countries create their own green building standards that address green building pracitces specific to an individual country.
From ArchDaily: (with SDU edits)
The rainy city of Concepción, is located in the mouth of the Bío-Bío River, 520 Km south of Santiago. It has aprox. 220.000 inhabitants, but its threshold spans reaches some 630.000 people. The highlights of its economy are the elaboration of steel and the wood industry, both on wide exporting booms. We were asked to design a branch of the ‘Consorcio Nacional de Seguros’, National Insurance Consortium, in a corner site, in front of the only historic and antique church in Concepción, whose façade had been unfortunately reconstructed after an earthquake. Furthermore, it had a front fenced square that impoverished its quality and public character….
The building is composed basically by three elements:
a) A free plant “volume” that looks to the East, North and West.
b) A “plan-volume” vertical to the South that flies over the square.
c) A great “horizontal” cantilever roof that serves as an end of the building and protects the large balcony of the upper floor from the western sun.
Via: ArchDaily
