The project, on which Fran Silvestre Arquitectos has been researching for more than ten years with the collaboration of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Technological Institute of Energy (ITE), will be carried out in the coming years, with Financial support from Net de Guerrers.
The Tower, with a height of 170 meters, will contain in its interior approximately one thousand wind mills of vertical axis allowed in the interior of the cities thanks to which they are covered and to which they are silent. It also has a continuous wrapping grid on the facade to avoid a possible danger to birds while protecting the propellers.
The project aims to make the Wind Tower a center for research into alternative energies in urban environments, as well as an important visual reference in the city of Valencia.
Description of project by Fran Silvestre Arquitectos
A landmark which modifies its proportions depending on the viewpoint and the effect of the sunlight; revealing an element in a constant evolution. An engraved tower devoted to the wind.
The building combines renewable energy it which feeds the city and its facilities with electricity, without needing other resources. Taking advantage of the possibilities that it suggests, much as for its construction as for its shape
Its stillness contrasts with the mobility of the shadows, its firmness emphasizes the strength of the wind to which it frames.
An emblem which reveals the intense light and the powerful wind to appraise the positive view of a society which has always taken advantage of the surrounding elements.
The plan view is designed by means of three vertical communication cores connected two abreast, trying to solve the commitment between the desire to be part of the landscape and the will to trap the wind.
This geometry is repeated in the ways which integrate the structure within its surroundings; the open Podium towards the pedestrian access, where there are the Conference Hall with one hundred people capacity, the Children Library, the Parvis (Atrium) and the services area.
The tower proposes a suggesting route. The ground floor incites to come in through a shadowed exterior space whose deck acts as a Belvedere on the garden. The program is distributed so that the traffic between the entering and leaving visitors do not pass each other. By using one of the communication cores to move upward, another to go down and the third one to use in case of emergency and to maintenance.
In each one of the communication cores, an staircase and two panoramic lifts, which encompass different views of the scenery, are displayed; cores whose night view emphasizes the slender character of the building. Once up, the cafeteria proportions maximize the perimeter of contact with the outside, making an all directions view of the scenery possible. The cafeteria is disposed in two levels with two different atmospheres. The deck is shaped as a one hundred and seventy meters high observation deck, where the city can be observed.
The arrangement of the vertical communications and the fact that they are connected bestow it with a good structural performance. The pressure of the wind is always dimmed by a rigid nucleus, whereas the orientation and the shape of the geometry allow it to change the prevailing wind into power. The vertical axis wind turbines are arranged in the curve areas which connect the communication cores. Both the wind turbines and the panoramic lifts are covered by an openwork metallic skin which being permeable to the wind together with the views confer a monolithic appearance to the structure. The construction is developed in an obvious and simple way thanks to the fast-speed climbing casings which make possible to materialize the built as an icon.
Structure proposes a wind turbine system of vertical axe, meanwhile its deep foundations based on pilings, most characteristic of buildings in height, allows the incorporation of geothermal energy. The volume presents wide surfaces in contact with the exterior. Here, the vertical areas constitute the support for the photovoltaic panel, taking advantage of its constant exposure to solar radiation. Besides, the podium’s horizontal surface is used in the obtaining of thermoelectric energy.
