Each ESE has an outer ring which generates a large interior open space where the building is housed. This barrier is prepared to resist, dissipate and reduce the impact of giant waves or even rivers of lava. The curved geometry, inspired by nature, seeks that, in the event of a catastrophe, the element that impacts flows to the sides to reduce the effects. In addition, very ductile concrete structures have been used, which allow their deformation without affecting their resistance capacity.
Interior circulation is simple and intuitive with a main core in the entrance area and two secondary cores on the sides, freeing up the entire front of the building to achieve a flexible interior space. Linear and mobile structures allow rapid subdivision into rooms with different capacities depending on the needs.
The aspects that make ESEs very energy efficient are: thermal insulation and tightness, solar incidence control through external slats, heat recovery from the facilities and electricity production with photovoltaic panels.
Rendering. Gran Canaria Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis. Image by Fernando Menis.
Rendering. Tenerife Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis. Image by Fernando Menis.
Project description by Fernando Menis
The Government of the Canary Islands commissioned two maximum security buildings to increase the response capacity against natural hazards and climate change in the archipelago, but also against pandemics and other possible events such as cyber attacks or terrorism. After winning the public competition to design the ESE Buildings, one in Tenerife and one in Gran Canaria, the Spanish architect Fernando Menis now unveils the design of two identical but autonomous buildings. The fact that two buildings, located on different sites, have the same design, means that in the long run they are more economically sustainable because they are easier to operate and maintain. Energy efficient, highly adaptable to external factors, and equipped to stand up to any type of exceptional situation, the ESEs will provide services to citizens uninterruptedly throughout the year. The ESEs will stand out for their construction innovations, energy efficiency and unique architecture, their focus on the ecological regeneration of the environment, the safety of operations, the accessibility of security forces and other emergency teams from anywhere, but also for their attention to the well-being of workers subjected to high levels of stress.
Model. Gran Canaria Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis.
TWO MAXIMUM SECURITY BUILDINGS TO INCREASE PUBLIC SAFETY IN THE CANARY ISLANDS
In a world in which the devastating effects of natural hazards are enhanced by increasingly extreme climate changes, faced with threats such as global viruses, cyberattacks, sabotage or terrorism, it is vital to have adequate infrastructure to guarantee public safety and prevent potential risks. Since 2008, the European Union has focused on consolidating what it called "critical infrastructure" that is energy, telecommunications, industry and transport equipment. Their operation is essential for the functioning of Europe and, therefore, their vulnerability is an international problem that affects all the member countries of the EU.
On the other hand, the island territories of the world, where more than 700 million people live (11% of the world's total population), are more vulnerable to adverse climatic events thus require resilient and durable infrastructures, capable of adapting to almost any circumstance and able to face disasters yet to come. The Canary Islands archipelago is highly exposed to rising sea levels, to volcanic eruptions, to extreme phenomena such as haze from the Sahara desert, and to hurricanes which increasingly move away from the Caribbean and form near Cape Verde, the Canary Islands and Madeira. In addition, even though it is a Spanish territory, it has to deal with the 2,000 km distance that separates it from the Iberian Peninsula. At the same time, it is also one of the most advanced island territories in the world in general organization of services that affect citizens.
Diagram. Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis.
Given the recent events - the COVID19 pandemic, Russia's war in Ukraine, cyberattacks and the increase in extreme weather events- the Government of the Canary Islands has taken a further step in terms of public safety, risk prevention and management of emergencies, calling, in 2021, a public tender for the design of two Essential Services Buildings, one on each of the largest islands of the archipelago, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, with a total investment of 70.400.000 Euros, mostly from European funds.
The ESEs are maximum security buildings, which will be built to withstand earthquakes and other extreme phenomena, to concentrate public awareness, response and action services in the event of public safety incidents. The buildings will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including two separate Data Centers to guarantee cyber protection. The entry submitted by the Spanish architect Fernando Menis, leading a team of experts in different fields related to emergencies and security, won the design contest and the construction of the two buildings is scheduled to start at the end of 2023 and finish in 2025.
Model. Tenerife Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis.
THE ESSENTIAL SERVICES BUILDINGS WILL BE ABLE TO SERVE ANY EXCEPTIONAL SITUATION
The Government of the Canary Islands relies on a series of essential services, which are provided 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Offering services related to security and emergencies, urgent sanitary coordination, police, rescue, personalized attention, social tele-care, infrastructure control etc. and that, to this day, are located in dispersed facilities. The Essential Services Buildings will bring together and coordinate the actions and resources of all these infrastructures in a high-performance technological building, strategically located and responsive to sustainability criteria. Each building will house 550 public employees and will occupy 23,000 m2 of built area.
SAFE AND RESILIENT BUILDINGS
In order to solve the connection with the environment and ensure protection against any external action, each ESE has been designed with an outer ring, acting as a buttress, which generates a large interior open space where the building is housed. This barrier will be prepared to resist, dissipate, and reduce the impact of giant waves, tidal waves, even lava rivers. The organic geometry of the form is designed that, in the event of lava rivers or tsunamis, the element flows to the sides in order to reduce the effects on the building.
To ensure the correct structural behavior of the building during earthquakes, the ESEs have been designed to withstand force accelerations higher than those indicated in the current regulations for the Canary Islands. In addition, very ductile concrete structures have been used, which allow deformation and the dissipation of energy without affecting their resistant capacity. Given the importance of control and security for the proper functioning of the Essential Services Buildings, access has been limited to two entrances, one for staff and the other for vehicles.
Rendering. Tenerife Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis. Image by Fernando Menis.
BUILDINGS THAT ARE FRIENDLY TO ITS USERS AND THE CITY
The ESEs, like other buildings by Fernando Menis, place special emphasis on integration with the environment, seeking its renaturation, while trying to contribute to the regeneration of the urban and social fabric that houses them. The perimeter walls, inspired by breakwater walls, have the typical vegetation of the area. The large sidewalks in the access areas and the arrangement of trees, both inside and on the edges of the plots, will integrate the buildings into their urban context and create spaces of transition and relationship. While on a larger scale, the massive expression of the building will produce a landmark in the urban fabric of the city.
The interior garden, designed to support the well-being of workers, will give the sensation of immersion in nature, thanks to its great biodiversity across different areas: the aromatic one will contain bromeliads, rosemary, jasmine, low-rise conifers, orange trees, maidenhair and ferns; a colorful zone of multicolored flowers; a zone of low shrubs; and a vertical garden zone. In addition, the inner courtyard will contain spaces for encounter, rest, leisure and sports.
Rendering. Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis. Image by Fernando Menis.
The rest areas are distributed throughout the building and the interior garden, so that the employees have the possibility of compensating for the extreme stress that their work usually entails. In addition, the building includes a slot 2.80 meters wide and 300 m long, with a vertical garden, which provides light and natural ventilation to the three upper floors. Since it is connected to the main outdoor courtyard, this ramp can be used for exercise such as walking or running.
The glazed façade is made with low-emissive double glass and has a solar control system so that the solar incidence is reduced by more than 80% without any color change in the shade of the glass. It is also resistant against winds of more than 280 km/h and is able to receive impacts from solid elements. The horizontal slat system is arranged in such a way that it allows the view of the exterior both from the sitting position at the work tables, and from a standing position. A control system for natural lighting and interior thermal conditions will continuously monitor the building and modify each element to guarantee comfort.
The interior circulation is simple and intuitive with a main core in the entrance area and two secondary cores on the sides, thus creating an interior street and freeing up the entire front of the building to achieve a completely flexible interior space. The linear and mobile structures will allow rapid subdivision into rooms with different capacities depending on the needs, maximizing adaptability to the diversity of uses at all times.
FUNCTIONALITY AND OPERABILITY
The functional spaces include: work rooms one being the Crisis Room, citizen service rooms; offices; and technical spaces of the different facilities that provide service to the buildings, among which the Security Control Room stands out. Cafeteria areas, assembly hall, press room, car park and high security areas are added.
With the exception of the Crisis Room, which will be used in extraordinary situations and will have independent systems, the other work rooms will be permanently be occupied by operators and technicians. For this reason, special attention is paid to lighting and regulation through day-night sequences, to the adequacy of power and voice/data sockets, to the ergonomics of workstations, to air conditioning, air renewal and filtering, as well as to the control of access and security. The 8 m height of the top floor allows for elevated control rooms to offer a global vision of the operations that are being carried out at all times.
Rendering. Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis. Image by Fernando Menis.
Both buildings will have a Data Processing Center, each 350 m2, equal and designed under the same concepts of security, redundancy, robustness, adaptability to future needs, ease of operation and energy efficiency. In this last aspect, they are distinguished from the vast majority of other data centers by incorporating an energy recovery system that will be used for reheating water, thus avoiding discharging the heat generated by the servers into the environment.
The main function of the roof is to serve as a heliport and its finish with picón (local volcanic stone) improves the energy efficiency of the building by increasing its thermal inertia. In addition, the use of picón, which has a high level of acoustic absorption due to its porosity, will help to control noise pollution from the heliport.
Rendering. Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis. Image by Fernando Menis.
ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS
The ESEs will have a bioclimatic design to produce natural ventilation and optimal air quality, while the air conditioning installation will allow energy savings and maximize comfort. The main design criteria is the rational and efficient use of energy, low energy consumption machinery, and the treatment of the envelope with 8 centimeters of thermal insulation (avoiding thermal bridges), all of which allows the building to obtain a type A energy certification. The buildings will have a photovoltaic installation on the roof of approximately 90 kW for the generation of electrical energy and to support the production of air conditioning. On the façade, a system of slats varies its spacing depending on the orientation, so that the incident radiation inside is controlled at all times.
Diagram. Essential Services Building by Fernando Menis.
The main aspects that make the Essential Services Buildings very energy efficient are the following:
- Thermal insulation: The thermal envelope of the building with lower thermal transmittance values than what is required in the Canary Islands Technical Building Code decreases the thermal loads and lowers the overall energy consumption.
- Airtightness: For the windows and doors on the façade, carpentry with very low thermal transmittance, low emissive double glazing, solar control and very low permeability will be used to control unwanted air infiltrations and improve the efficiency of air conditioning facilities.
- Reducing solar incidence: A solar protection system with micro-perforated horizontal slats, together with the use of solar control glass in the carpentry, allow the entry of solar radiation to be optimized and reduce the thermal loads in summer.
- Heat recovery: The building reuses the heat generated by the buildings' data centers to heat the rest of the building, lowering the energy consumption.
- Reducing thermal bridges: All non-essential thermal bridges to the outside have been avoided, considerably reducing energy loss.
- Photovoltaic panels: Placed on the roof to use the incident solar radiation, they will help to reduce the building's energy consumption and will guarantee, through the installation of batteries, the production of electricity in case of emergency.
