Executive projects for three new tourist facilities in Paraguay

Motivation

The wider objective of the project was to give advice and guidance to the Ettore Piras team of architects in order to optimise the design of three new buildings for three tourist centres in Paraguay. The project was divided into two parts: sustainable building; and museum concept.

Sustainable building:

The energy and comfort optimisation work carried out suggested possible improvements to architects and installation engineers with a view to constructing sustainable and efficient buildings. The specific sections of the project were:

• Architectural diagnosis and lighting analysis in order to design optimal solar protections.
• Detailed selection of envelope materials in order to ensure comfort and minimise their impact.
• Detailed HVAC and renewable systems proposals, and energy performance of the buildings.
• Detailed water reuse solutions (rain tanks, natural treatments, etc.)

Museum concept:

This product was aimed at encouraging the incorporation of the coastal part of the mountain, traditionally neglected as a public space, as a site of interest in Barcelona, given natural and cultural qualities. The initiative also had a communication dimension, forming part of a multiple exhibition with other projects on the same lines.

Results

Main tasks regarding sustainable buildings:

• Identification of energy benefits and limitations of the baseline design of the museum.
• Proposals and advice for improvement and technical assistance in the executive project
• Results:
• 50% reduction in water consumption
• 30% saving in energy consumption for cooling, compared design and passive solutions
• use of local materials

Main tasks regarding the museum concept

• Information and data compilation.
• Current users, challenges and detection of opportunities.
• Design of the programme of uses.