Ferres Arquitectos y Consultores

Ferrés arquitectos y consultores parte de una idea muy simple, entroncar con la necesidad de especialización que exige la arquitectura de vanguardia, que trata de proporcionar a arquitectos y sus colaboradores soluciones de alto nivel para hacer realidad fachadas ligeras de última generación.
Una idea que ha tenido como impulsor y cabeza visible a un especialista en esta materia, Xavier Ferrés, de formación arquitecto, que durante toda su carrera profesional ha estado vinculado al mundo de las fachadas ligeras. Experto reconocido en el sector, de las fachadas ligeras desde todos sus ángulos como la producción en fábrica, los procesos en obra, el desarrollo de sistemas constructivos, la asesoría para industrias del vidrio o de los sistemas de perfiles o de sus componentes.
El denominador común de los trabajos desarrollados, gira siempre en torno a una filosofía de trabajo en la que los consultores deben aportar soluciones para mejorar el global del proyecto, durante todo el proceso y no una vez terminado éste, para resolverlo constructivamente. Este sistema no depende de la magnitud o de la complejidad de la obra, solo depende de la organización y del método de trabajo de los equipos, para obtener resultados de alta calidad.
Tomando como base el trabajo realizado en multitud de obras, aplicando las conclusiones de la experiencia, combinando un fondo documental único, el estudio, la formación y las ideas, con la práctica profesional, nos permite actualmente ofrecer servicios integrados, desde el diseño y planificación de la fachada hasta el control de su ejecución material en fábrica y obra.
Mediante este aprendizaje constante, mostrado en más de 50 artículos técnicos y manuales así como más de 50 conferencias en escuelas y congresos, nuestro estudio, se ha especializado en ofrecer a arquitectos y constructores el asesoramiento y asistencia técnica necesarios para acometer con éxito los proyectos más complejos desde el punto de vista conceptual, formal, técnico y constructivo.

It is not easy to solve the façade construction of a building when this facade is supposed to be placed between the edges of the slabs, and yet the slabs all have different perimeters. The distance between a point on the edge of a slab and the equivalent point on the upper slab is therefore always different.

They maintain the same façade structure while its performance is improved by using in the renovation contemporary techniques and systems.

A double skin glass façade has indisputable formal possibilities, such as blurring the structural and/or functional order, providing uniformity and vanishing the volume limits so they merge with the sky. However, it contributes little to improving thermal aspects in our climate. 

This is an interesting resource to hide the blind area associated with the edge of the slab, the facilities’ cavity and the elevated floor without having to delimit this area with two transoms visible in the elevation. The only apparent cutting is that of the unitized panel, with greater or lesser density in the pattern of the serigraphy that opalizes or simply veils the transparency of the glass.

The facade of GAES headquarters in Barcelona is a risky proposal. In filt3rs.net we addressed the behavior of the green filtering elements; here is the time to comment the facade solution as a whole.

The unfinished Plaça d’Europa project arises from a contradiction. The objective was to provide the city of Barcelona with a more representative entrance from the airport, with towers that appear to be of tertiary use. And we say “appear to be” because many of these towers were in fact designed for residential use. This contradiction justifies the façade solution adopted in the towers.

The façade of the Renaissance hotel in L’Hospitalet has a peculiar thermal behaviour. It is based on retarding thermal loss with the concrete wall (thermal inertia), while minimizing the thermal difference between the two sides of this wall with a closed air cavity on its outer side. This closed air cavity has its thermal insulation improved by a reflective membrane coating one of its sides.

On this occasion, Batlle and Roig resort to a curtain wall in which partial structures are assembled at each slab front without physical continuity between them. Glass panes are then supported over the partial structures to close the façade (have a look at the "Cadireta" curtain wall structure). Each two glass panes are framed with an aluminium frame made of unitized panels profiles. So, is this a unitized façade or a curtain wall one? Maybe it is a mixture of the two?

The RBA headquarters are not included here to talk about the project as a whole; an analysis that would allow us to highlight very positive aspects. Instead, our focus is the façade and its lack of sincerity.

The two longitudinal façades of the lower volume are articulated from a grid that reproduces the rhythm of the concrete structure. It is not the true “structure” that we see. The façade enclosure covers pillars and slab edges from the outside, hiding them from sight.

It is difficult to understand the need for building this thick, load bearing, cast in-situ concrete wall hidden behind a light cladding composed of different layers: mineral wool, coloured ribbed plates and glass slats. On the inside, the concrete wall is again hidden, on this occasion by furniture. The climbing formwork system that made this wall possible had to be successively cut to adapt to the changes in the diameter and curvature of the tower. The preparation of the reinforcement must have been equally difficult.