The strong contrast between these two strategies adopted in the project gives it an exuberant appearance both in morphology and in texture and materiality, this being one of the singularities of the building. The outer membrane of each tower, where all the terraces facing sea views are located, is conceived with two skins. One with thermal closure with glazing and the second with expanded sheet metal panels that reinforce the volumetry from afar, and works as a solar protection strategy.
Tembo Suites Port Forum Barcelona by aZCON + HYBRIDa. Photograph by Adrià Goula.
Project description by aZCON Architectures + HYBRIDa Arquitectes
Tembo BCN suites, the new aparthotel located in the Port Forum of Barcelona, is the building resulting from the international invitational competition organized by Stahler Real State Group, a competition that was won by the team formed by the architecture studios, HYBRIDa / aZCON in 2017 .
In the rules of the competition, the condition was imposed that in an already advanced phase of the development of the project by HYBRIDa /aZCON, the architecture studio D388 would be incorporated, as a partner that would be more dedicated to a phase of work execution. The architecture of the project is strongly defined by HYBRIDa /aZCON in the competition, in the preliminary project and in the basic project. The property wanted to fully develop the winning proposal of the competition due to its architectural uniqueness. Therefore, the executive project is developed with absolute fidelity to the winning proposal, and with great detail, so that the architecture in its construction is absolutely defined.
Tembo Suites Port Forum Barcelona by aZCON + HYBRIDa. Photograph by Adrià Goula.
Urban Proposal
The location of building is in Sant Adrià del Besòs, only one street separates the site from Barcelona, and it is also in total relationship with the Port Fòrum area and the area of the new UPC campus. The aparthotel is located between Carrer Llull, which comes directly from the heart of Poble Nou, and Carrer Ramon de Penyafort, which heads towards the Besos district. We received the plot, knowing that the area behind Carrer Lola Anglada will be populated with new buildings, some of a certain height, which will form part of the new fabric planned for the new UPC campus.
The physical conditions of the site, of generous dimensions and very good orientation, determine the volumetric arrangement. The building seeks a balance between formal singularity and intensive land occupation to promote energy and construction savings, on the one hand, and achieve maximum free space, taking advantage of the good sunlight conditions and sea views. With a constructed area of more than 28,000 m², the building volumetrically translates into a ground and first-floor plinth that recognizes the limits of the site and a double V-shaped body that rises to the 18th floor seeking the best views and recognizing the morphology of the towers in the immediate surroundings.
Tembo Suites Port Forum Barcelona by aZCON + HYBRIDa. Photograph by Adrià Goula.
The main access to the aparthotel is from the corner formed at the intersection between Ramon de Penyafort and Carrer Llull streets. The flight of the first and second floor indicates and focuses the main access that leads to a large lobby in which all accesses to the building occur. At the end of this there is a package of four elevators, which connect the entire building in height, and which disembark in the part where the two towers communicate, and from where the walkways of each of them appear. Through this lobby we also access a large exterior staircase that unfolds along the two floors of the plinth, running through and giving access to the entire program located on the ground floor and first floor, shops, bar, restaurant, outdoor lounge terraces. night bar, etc. This large scale is located in this semi-open space between the towers, an interstitial space that, like cartilage, will function as a large Atrium. This regulates the climatic conditions of the access walkways to the rooms and contains hanging spaces for special use with splendid views and spectacular morphology.
Functionality
It is a building with 270 rooms plus services, which have direct sun both morning and afternoon and all face the sea, the Besòs or the Llobregat. Each of the towers has a single bay, avoiding interior rooms. Therefore, all rooms have a balcony facing the façade and views, and all have access via a walkway.
The building, however, is formed by the set of two spatial and constructive logics: one for the "designated" spaces such as the rooms or apartments and program on the ground floor and another for the "non-designated" ones such as the special hanging spaces. in the Atrium. The part of designated spaces responds to a more closed and rigid construction and system, the rest (the non-designated part) acts as a cartilage, moldable to different actions and requirements and uses, and with a light construction system, and hooked or hanging of the main structure, which contrasts strongly with it and gives it an exuberant appearance, both in morphology and in texture and materiality, this being one of the singularities of the building.
Tembo Suites Port Forum Barcelona by aZCON + HYBRIDa. Photograph by Adrià Goula.
Architectural quality and facades
The towers will be treated with two different membranes for each of their facades:
The outer membrane of each tower, which faces the sea, where all the terraces are located, is conceived with two skins. One with thermal closure with glazing and the second with expanded sheet metal panels that reinforce the volumetry from afar, but allow views from the rooms, this envelope has the character of a solar filter and a shade. It is a building in a Mediterranean climate, therefore, light treatment and thermal control is very important. The favourable climate for 6 months a year allows for semi-outdoor spaces with sea views. From inside, users will be able to enjoy Mediterranean terraces that face the sea, protected from the sun, from afar, but the repetitive panels take on the function of defining the volume of the building, creating a pattern in tune with the scale of the building, creating a game of bright, treating the volumetry as an entire object, avoiding creating a watertight and inefficient skin, as happens in many hotels.
On the other hand, the inner membrane of the towers, reminiscent of a wooden spider web, is this soft, cartilaginous space that we were talking about, which surrounds both spaces and covers the Atrium. It is a semi-exterior space that takes advantage of Barcelona's climate to become an umbrella in different intensities of transparency depending on the orientation and the spaces it covers, and the use given to them.
Tembo Suites Port Forum Barcelona by aZCON + HYBRIDa. Photograph by Adrià Goula.
Parametric Design
Many parts of the building have been designed with parametric software, some with algorithmic processes of self-generation of the form, others simply in parametric modelling. The Atrium, for example, has been developed computationally, through an algorithm that has automatically generated the volumes, with the formal polygonal logic that characterizes it. These volumes will house hanging meeting rooms and other recreational spaces, such as a wi-fi work area, a library or a nursery, all covered by this fabric or cartilage. This process has been carried out with the crossing of data and parameters (total volumetry available for this use, best orientation to light, fire zone restrictions, structural capacity of the volumes), which when combined through the software, generates infinite volumetric options, resulting in the most efficient shape.
Once the generative process has been carried out, and once the form and spaces have been created, without leaving the digital interface, using the associative parametric potential we have all the information stored as data. Every time we modify or make adjustments to the building, formally, all parts and data are updated automatically, we can review square meters built, glass surfaces, length of profiles, carpentry, wood slats, m3 of concrete, joists and forgings of hanging spaces, etc. each time and assess the economic impact that this new modification entails. We have worked on a generative model, a parametric model and an associative model. This model will also allow us to extract all the information in 2D to generate detailed plans, build test prototypes and final models, review material finishes and volumetry, and even tour the building entirely inside and out thanks to digital flight simulations.
Tembo Suites Port Forum Barcelona by aZCON + HYBRIDa. Photograph by Adrià Goula.
Sustainability
This new building between Barcelona and Sant Adrià de Besòs has been designed with sustainability criteria in the design process both, in the selection of materials and in the construction systems. It is also worth highlighting the logic of the Atrium as a climate filter element, the system of light balconies located around the building and the careful proportion of the openings concerning the full one allowing all rooms to enjoy cross ventilation, and control of solar radiation. All in all, a reduction in energy consumption is intended compared to a current standard building in terms of energy demand and consumption. Reduction of material impacts (energy, CO2) compared to standard construction, thanks to the prefabrication of the bathrooms in the workshop. Throughout the complex, the use of high-efficiency appliances is proposed that reduce primary energy consumption.
Once completed, the building will house 270 apartments with views of the sea and its own common spaces. The creation of this building represents the consolidation of the border between Sant Adrià de Besòs and Barcelona, near the Fòrum and with a marked Mediterranean character that promises to generate synergies and attract visitors to the area. In the design process of such a unique building, computational design strategies have been used with CAD CAM tools and parametric design programs of the most advanced level.
