Concrete

What may seem at first glance like a conventional facade, with a masonry outer layer resting on the slab, is nothing like reality! Hidden tension rods within the bricks and post-compression allow the heavy panel to remain suspended and work in tension.

Equally interesting is the opening, where the ceramic lattice covers the opaque hinged panel, acting as a security barrier rather than a solar filter.

In line with the previous post (183), referring to this “new” way of conceiving architecture, we want to share this magnificent example of reusing material with you.

Again, wall structures and materials of mineral origin are imposed.

We want to thank this young team of architects for their generosity in sharing this really interesting and innovative project with us.

A light highly-prefabricated panel over a heavy handmade wall, a contradiction that works.
A heavy concrete panel will imply having mass on the outside of the thermal insulation, as those solutions are commonly insulated from the inside. If the objective is having this thermal inertia in the inner side of the insulation, the solution is good: a heavy interior wall insulated over its outer face and a low-weight panel so as not to overload the façade where it is not necessary.

Resorting to precast concrete panels for the façade enclosure is nothing new. In fact, the use of said material in large-format boards of minimum-thickness is not new either, the ΩZ pre-stressed board system has been allowing it for some time. 

The thinness of the plate makes it difficult to perform an adequate sealing of the joint and therefore the tendency is to leave them open, and define a drained cavity on the back to grant water tightness. A rain screen.

Here is a really interesting concrete solution.

As HEARING indicates on their own website "they used triangular fillets as profiled shuttering and were thus able to cause the grain to protrude evenly from the surface after surface treatment, washing in this case, thus providing the desired structure." 

Applying colour only to a superficial layer of concrete stone aggregate allows the opening to be highlighted with this separate, nearly white enclosing element.

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

The term “conventional” is really poor when we refer it to such an exceptional façade. However, considering the taxonomical criteria we are using on this platform: the material form of the façade supporting element is amorphous, and the watertightness mechanism is by material barrier. Besides, the watertightness function and the supporting one are solved over the same element so the classification is clear.

Sober architecture but a confusing solution.

Which is the main façade layer in this concrete façade? The 8 cm think concrete panel or the brick wall? 

The relationship between the façade enclosure and the structure is a recurring theme in Batlle and Roig’s work.

In the CMT headquarters the structure is located offset from the façade to allow free development of a nearly entirely glazed envelope.