CASAS DEL RIO ECO-RESTAURANT
2003
Bioclimatic S.L. Ecotourism Complex
Casas del Rio Requena. Valencia
1264.71 m2 (total)
892.95 m2 (Restaurant)
879,600 euros (Restaurant)
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1. Most Important Goals

- Designing a Rural Tourism Centre, high-level ecological and bioclimatic, energy efficient, and with zero energy consumption from renewable energies.

- Regenerate natural environment really degraded

- Integrate the architectural perfectly in the environment

- Construct a building complex without generating waste, or emissions of any kind.

- Use only salvaged, reused or recycled.

- Reduce the maximum energy consumption, and use only renewable energy.

- Making the most of natural resources (sun, wind, rain)

- Build a completely self-sufficient complex (water supply, power supply, reuse of waste, food supply).


- Designing a building that is an extension of the field. That is, the building should be seen as a continuation of the land, as a dune in the desert. Thus the building has only two fronts: the north side and the south facade.

- Designing a building with infinite life. That is, a building consisting of a set of architectural components assembled so that all can be recovered, repaired, reused, or replaced with ease. Thus, the building can be preserved forever, reduce, enlarge, update, or add new architectural elements in the future.

- Achieving a perfect balance between the need to give the building a large thermal mass, and the desire to recover and reuse every one of its components. Therefore, we have chosen a structural system based on lightweight concrete slabs, oversized. These plates are joined together by bolts and welds in metallic elements embedded and twinned in the concrete mass of each architectural element.

2. Architectural Solution

The environment in which is located the building was completely degraded (in the process of desertification, and with a high erosion, due to occasional floods caused by rain water.

Therefore, the first project is to complete ecological reforestation, carefully studying the most convenient location of the buildings of the complex.

This done, the next objective of the project is to integrate fully, in every sense, the buildings on the natural environment.

The complex includes four buildings:

- Building A: apartments
- Building B. apartments
- Building C: restaurant
- Building D: center of cultural activities.

The apartment buildings comprising two different types of apartments bioclimatic so arranged adjacent and forming two buildings.

The cultural center includes a large hall and space for all kinds of cultural and ecological activities. The typology of the building has a central courtyard is lit overhead, which "overturned" the other rooms.

The restaurant is designed as a curved folding field. Like a desert dune. Thus, the resulting building only has two facades, the north and south. In winter, open the shading of the south facade and the building is illuminated and heated by direct sunlight. In contrast, in summer, sunscreens are closed from the south side, so that the building is kept cool, and is illuminated by indirect sunlight overhead, and from the north.

The huge wave of building houses an airy interior, which includes a store to meet the needs of the occupants of the apartments and a restaurant, equipped with all necessary services. The building has a basement, which serves both as storage of food, drink and bioclimatic system to generate the fresh air that will tour the building.

The roof of the building is landscaped as a continuation of the surrounding natural terrain, which allows seamless integration with the environment, and a perfect imitation of the same.

At the top of the "wave" is the solar tower, which houses a set of solar thermal sensors to power the underfloor heating the building.

3. Sustainable Analysis

1. Resource Optimization

1.1. Natural Resources. They take full advantage of resources like the sun (to heat the building), the breeze, the land (to cool the building), rain water (stored in underground tanks and used for watering the garden and for flushing bathrooms), ... .. On the other hand, has installed water saving devices on taps, showers and flush toilets.

1.2. Resources made. The materials used are maximized, reducing potential waste through proper project, effective management, and above all, because each component of the building has been individually built at the factory.

1.3. Resources recovered, reused and recycled.
All building materials may be recoverable, including all elements of the foundation and structure. Thus, can be easily repaired, and reused in the mime building, or in any other.
On the other hand, has promoted the use of recycled and recyclable materials.

2. Decreased energy consumption

2.1. Construction.
The building has been constructed with minimal energy consumption. The materials used were manufactured with a minimum amount of energy, since all components are factory, with complete control. On the other hand, the building is constructed with very few assistive devices, being fully industrialized.

2.2. Use
Due to their bioclimatic characteristics, the building has a zero energy consumption from renewable energies.

2.3. Dismantling
The vast majority of materials used can be recovered easily. On the other hand, the building is designed to have indefinite durability, since all the building components are easily recoverable, repairable and replaceable.

3. Using alternative energy sources
The energy used is of two types: solar thermal (solar heating captors and the ACS, and evaporation of water to air cooling) and geothermal (fresh air system leveraging existing underground low temperatures in the lower galleries the floor slab of the building).

4. Reduced waste and emissions
The building does not generate any emissions, and does not generate any waste other than organic.

5. Improving health and wellbeing
All materials used are environmentally friendly and healthy and have no emissions that can affect human health. Similarly, the building is naturally ventilated, and maximizing natural light, creating a healthy environment and provides the best possible quality of life for its occupants.

6. Reduced price of the building and maintenance
The building was designed in a rational way, removing unnecessary items, unnecessary or gratuitous, allowing construction to a conventional price, despite the ecological equipment includes.

4. Bioclimatic characteristics (the restaurant)

1.1. Heat Generation Systems
The building is heated by itself, in two ways: 1. Avoiding cool: Due to its high thermal insulation and proper disposal of the glass surfaces. 2. Because of his careful and special bioclimatic design, and perfect NS orientation, the building is heated by the greenhouse effect, direct sunlight and solar radiant floor heating, and stays warm for a long time, due to its high thermal inertia.

1.2. Fresh Generation Systems
The building itself is cool, in three ways: 1. Avoiding heat, providing most of the glass surface to the south (disposing of sunscreens for the direct and indirect solar radiation), and providing adequate insulation. The roof garden, with 30 cm. land, helps maintain a stable temperature inside the building throughout the year. 2. Cooling by a cooling system architectural air through underground tunnels. On the other hand, due to high thermal inertia of the building, the accumulated fresh overnight stays for almost the entire next day. 3. Evacuating the hot air outside the building, through solar chimneys located on the top of the central area.

3. Storage systems (heat or cool)
The heat generated during the day in winter (greenhouse effect, direct sunlight and solar radiant floor) is accumulated in the floors and interior bearing walls of high thermal inertia. Thus, the building remains warm throughout the night without any energy consumption.
The cool night generated during the summer (for natural ventilation and outside due to lower temperature) is accumulated in the floors and interior bearing walls of high thermal inertia. Thus, the building remains cool throughout the day without any energy consumption.
The roof garden (about 30 cm. Of land) high thermal inertia, as well as adequate isolation, helps maintain stable temperatures inside the building in winter and summer.

4. Transfer systems (heat or cool).
As the building has one room, are not necessary heat transfer systems or fresh.

5. Natural ventilation
The ventilation of the building is continuously and naturally through the tunnel under the floor slab.

5. Highlights Innovations

- Achieve a Rural Tourism complex with zero energy consumption from renewable energies.

- Achieve a 100% industrial building (restaurant), in which all components can be recovered, repaired and reused indefinitely.

- Achieving a rational arrangement of solar thermal sensors staggered, so that in winter with an absolute return in the summer and become part shade each other, preventing serious problems due to excessive generation of unnecessary hot water generated.