#361 Bolueta Passive Tower, Bilbao, Spain. Architect: Varquitectos , 2018.

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In 2012 VArquitectos won the architectural competition for the design and project management of 361 housing units. The building was designed to be efficient but was far from complying with the Passive House standard. The heating and hot water generation were meant to be provided by district heating, for the 1,100 units built throughout the entire Bolueta neighborhood. There was a problem when the district heating was ruled out because of the crisis. The promoter still wanted an efficient building, with an A energy rating. At that point, VArquitectos began studying the viability of employing the Passive House standard as a way of providing the efficiency desired by the client. It is a residential tower, a highrise. This means that some of the solutions will be derived from the characteristics of the tower itself, and from its intended use. The materials employed had to be the typical materials used in this kind of construction, while also being approved by the technical criteria of Visesa based on their experience building thousands of social housing units. The structure is made of concrete, with structural concrete walls, including the elevators, for achieving the needed strength to stand up to the wind. All the aspects that were improved from the original design made the budget increase by around 3%. In addition to the gains regarding comfort, air quality, absence of noise, future increase in value, etc., it was also important to highlight the economic savings for the tenants of these housing units, especially when we consider that most of them will be people with low incomes. This project shows that it is possible to build to the Passive House standard for social housing in Spain, and in a tower typology. The type of construction follows the traditional techniques used in the area, which was important for the economic viability of the project.

Image Details:
Image File: IBUJ-0104-0003
Caption: Medium distance view of building. #361 Bolueta Passive Tower, Bilbao, Spain. Architect: Varquitectos , 2018.
Property Release: No
Model Release: N/A
Dimensions in PX: 5017 x 3345 pixels
Date of Photograph: 20/08/2018
Restriction: No micro sales
Credit: Inigo Bujedo Aguirre/VIEW
Building Details:
View Project Number: 61305
Building Name: #361 Bolueta Passive Tower
Headline: #361 Bolueta Passive Tower, Bilbao, Spain. Architect: Varquitectos , 2018.
City: Bilbao
Country: Spain
Architect: Varquitectos
Architect Website: http://varquitectos.com/
Category: Housing
Building Type: Affordable Housing
Year of Completion: 2018
Collection: VIEW Architecture
Public Notes: In 2012 VArquitectos won the architectural competition for the design and project management of 361 housing units. The building was designed to be efficient but was far from complying with the Passive House standard. The heating and hot water generation were meant to be provided by district heating, for the 1,100 units built throughout the entire Bolueta neighborhood. There was a problem when the district heating was ruled out because of the crisis. The promoter still wanted an efficient building, with an A energy rating. At that point, VArquitectos began studying the viability of employing the Passive House standard as a way of providing the efficiency desired by the client. It is a residential tower, a highrise. This means that some of the solutions will be derived from the characteristics of the tower itself, and from its intended use. The materials employed had to be the typical materials used in this kind of construction, while also being approved by the technical criteria of Visesa based on their experience building thousands of social housing units. The structure is made of concrete, with structural concrete walls, including the elevators, for achieving the needed strength to stand up to the wind. All the aspects that were improved from the original design made the budget increase by around 3%. In addition to the gains regarding comfort, air quality, absence of noise, future increase in value, etc., it was also important to highlight the economic savings for the tenants of these housing units, especially when we consider that most of them will be people with low incomes. This project shows that it is possible to build to the Passive House standard for social housing in Spain, and in a tower typology. The type of construction follows the traditional techniques used in the area, which was important for the economic viability of the project.
Keywords: #361 Bolueta Passive Tower; architecture; Affordable Housing (Shared Ownership); Europe; Spain; Bilbao; Bolueta; 2018; 21st Century; Varquitectos; Nobody; Full Frame; general view; day; exterior; Passive House standard; High Rise; Tallest Passive Building; Basque Country; Passivhaus; residential building; sustainability; certified Passivhaus building 28-storey; social housing; the future; industrial area; gentrification; rejuvenation; exterior facade; neighbourhood; context; urban; black cladding; aluminium cladding; residential tower; window; repetitive pattern; modern; color black; rectangular; imposing; contrast; plinth; yellow plinth
Orientation: H
Type: Affordable Housing
B/W or Colour: Colour
Number of People: Nobody
Technique: Full Frame
People Incidental: N/A
Point of View: General view
Time of Day: Day
Interior or Exterior: Exterior
Photographer: Inigo Bujedo Aguirre
Source File Name: IBUJ-0104-0003.jpg
Copyright Info URL: www.viewpictures.co.uk