The Santa Creu i Sant Pau Research Institute inaugurated on 15 November 2018 its new building with a wonderful façade that consists on an impressive dress of ceramic pieces, which contributes not just to a beautiful esthetical effect, in perfect integration with the Modernist complex of Sant Pau Hospital, a unique masterpiece in the heart of Barcelona, but also to achieve maximum energy savings and the minimum environmental impact.
Project Name: Sant Pau Research Institute
Studio Name: Picharchitects
The new headquarters of the institute, of 9,700 m2, is the result of the collaboration between the PICHarchitects_Pich-Aguilera and 2BMFG Arquitectes offices. In this project, it is imperative to bold that both research and advanced construction technology have been integrated into all architectural design processes to achieve the maximum possible benefits with minimal environmental, material and economic cost.
The new building façade is an example of integration with the iconic architecture of the rest of the Modernist complex of the Hospital. This achievement is possible due to the use of translucent ceramic jealousy made by ceramic textile. Its appearance changes constantly throughout the day, both from the outside and from the interior of the building, thanks to the coloration applied to the thousands of ceramic pieces, identical to the original pieces of the modernist domes, and to its vitrified finish, creating a mosaic that surrounds the entire new building.
The ceramic textile provides privacy to the researchers and have folds that protect the building from solar radiation, thus diminishing significantly the energy cost. These folds make, from some points of view, the polychrome interior mosaic appear outside. Thus, the innovative construction technology of ceramic textiles generates effects of transparency, color, brightness and texture, making it possible for the façades of the building to be related to the historical architecture from contemporaneity.
On the other hand, the new building incorporates the most demanding contemporary parameters in terms of sustainability and the circular economy. It has obtained the maximum energy savings (A level energetic certification), and the minimum environmental impact certification (Leed Platinum is currently being certificated).
