Located in the 22@ district of Barcelona, the Luxa building has been designed by leading architectural practice, Batlle i Roig Arquitectura, to reflect the city’s modern and vibrant place on the world stage: comprising twin towers embellished with silver and gold WICTEC curtain walling, as well as other systems from the WICONA range.
Visually in harmony with the business and technological mien of the area, the Luxa building consists of two adjacent, but independently functioning blocks; linked by a shared podium where the entrances connect. The silver coloured building is occupied by Amazon while the gold building is home to a coworking space operated by American commercial real estate giant, WeWork.
Designed by facade designer Moyser, the elevations to both the nine-storey structures are fabricated using WICONA’s WICTEC 50EL SG modular facade to create extensive glazed areas, which were specified to provide solar protection through silk screen printing: showing a series of attractive, reflective vertical strips. These enable full visibility as well as improved comfort for those inside.
The WICTEC EL SG modules were prefabricated in the factory, ensuring quality and uniformity; while facilitating speed of installation and thereby ensuring the project’s demanding program deadlines could be achieved.
The building with the silver facade, has an elevation area of almost 10,000 square metres, while the 6,500 square metres of gold facade fronts the second tower.
WICSTYLE 65 evo glass doors were chosen for the entrances, their concealed hinges permitting discreet integration into the facade, adding to the monolithic, fully glazed appearance of the structures.
A senior architect from Batlle i Roig Arquitectura commented:
“All the materials selected are of the best quality, which gives the building an extremely high standard of comfort and performance, creating a modern atmosphere and high energy efficiency; allowing us to obtain the LEED GOLD certification.”
Additionally, the WICONA curtain wall system specified for the project has been awarded the C2C Silver Certificate: confirming the product’s sustainability credentials.
The ‘cradle to grave’ assessment takes into consideration how a product is designed, what it consists of and how it will be disposed of at the end of its useful working life. As a means of guidance for specifiers and designers, there are five certification levels (from basic to platinum); each one demanding compliance under the criteria of material lifespan, material reutilisation, use of renewable energy, carbon management and water stewardship, as well as social equity and biodiversity.
Like the other WICONA systems the WICTEC facade offers multiple options which extend from the classic stick assemblies to unitised and structural glazed elevations. Compliant with the EN13830 standard for curtain walling, WICTEC is fully tested for weather resistance and fire performance and is adaptable to almost any architectural style thanks to the ready availability of diverse profile types.
WICONA is part of the Hydro Group, a world leader in aluminium solutions. Through its globally renowned Hydro Technology Hubs, the group is shaping a sustainable future, with innovative products that satisfy and surpass customer expectations, in line with demands of CSR and increasing environmental regulations.
For more information on WICONA’s offering, please visit: www.wicona.com/en/uk or follow WICONA UK & Ireland on LinkedIn.