MAIN STRATEGIES
Location.
The new local police station is placed on the edge of the municipality. The plot is a square in the middle of nowhere, being some majestic trees the only landmark available. Some strict and abstract city regulations even define the site plan position, orientation and height.
Due to this non existing site personality an autonomous and generic piece is proposed for the site, being its final shape purely an answer to functional requirements and restrictions. Thus the program defines a pure parallelepiped without any stridence. Security requirements strongly limits the possibility to do openings on the facade so the result is a massive and solid stone that claims its neutrality through white color.
Exterior.
A (future) garden is the only separation from the street. There are no separation fences with citizens as police has to show itself close and friendly. We propose a white, massive and horizontal volume that clearly formalizes its only public access by lifting one of its extremes and generating a deep porch.
Interior.
Inside everything changes, a double height lobby and a chessboard-like patio placement organizes the entire program and allow light to flood the interior. White color is the main protagonist, its texture changes to characterize the different surfaces of the building: white textured concrete for the exterior, polished white stone as pavement, white brick and wood on walls, perforated white on the ceiling…TECHTONICS AND ENERGY.
The building is solved with a mixed strategy of in-situ concrete structure (as it is not big enough to admit a precast structural system) but it’s regular enough to admit systematized solutions which optimizes time and resources. Patios generate a grid that is used to place main columns. Concrete slabs are stiffened with long beams that emerge on top, generating the roof perimeter and freeing the bottom part for installations to be freely traced. Entrance cantilever is solved with a huge metallic tensor that’s hidden beneath the facade.
All panels are modulated so all the building can be completely solved with a single 3 meter wide piece. What’s different is the length of the panel. All waterproofing solutions (upper and bottom) are precast with the panel so no extra elements are needed. A corrugated texture is chosen as panel finish so joins between elements are almost invisible so the volume can be read as a big massive white concrete cube.
There are different strategies to optimize energetic behavior, mainly based on passive systems:
On one side compact condition of the building assures a very low form factor. All openings are orientated east-west and due to patio’s narrow size (2m) the interior is protected from direct sun radiation at all times but at the same time interior’s natural light levels are high enough, so no artificial lighting is needed during daytime.
A 10cm thick isolation skin protects the building in all its facades, roof and floor. This extremely reduces thermal needs of the building so heating machines are much smaller than usual and consumption is also lower. On summer, strategic patio placement allow cross ventilation to fresh all the building, so air conditioning needs are almost nonexistent. The material condition of the building gives enough inertia so heat peaks can be translated to sunset time, when most of the police station is empty. Then it can naturally refrigerate all night long so it will be fresh again on sunrise time.
Text: Josep Ferrando Bramona - Sergi Serrat.
CREDITS:
Main architects: Josep Ferrando and Sergi Serrat.
Team collaborators: Marc Nadal (Architect), Ramon Subirà (Architect), Anne Hinz (Architect), NB35 Estructures: Josep Nel.lo (Structural Engineering), Eletresjota: Jaume Pastor (Mechanical and Electrical Engineering), Gestoba S.A (Project Management).
Date: September 2010 - November 2011 (Construction), 2008 (Competition).
Client: Local Police - Salt municipality.
Project: Police Station.
Surface: 1.650 m2 (Project), 4.320 m2 (Plot).
Budget: 2.300.000 €.
Site: Salt, Girona. Spain.
