In 1991 an atrocity struck Vic in the form of a terrorist attack. Ten people died. Today, at the same site the new city library has been built, as a symbol that knowledge is one of the best pathways to understanding others.

As we already know, architecture also helps to build values. The studio BCQ Architecture wanted the new Pilarin Bayés library in Vic to be a monument to knowledge and to life, tolerance and culture, to remembrance and to the future. Also to sustainability, as one of the simplest ways to face that future.

To meet this sustainable goal, the creators have used ACCOYA@, one of the most resistant and sturdy timbers on the market.

Exterior wooden curtain wall

ACCOYA® makes it possible to build a sustainable façade with curtain wall where wood is used on the exterior. This possible thanks to acetylated wood, in other words, wood subject to a 100% natural treatment that makes the material extraordinarily resistant.

The wood obtained after this method takes on a superior dimensional stability, with good strength in the cycles of expansion and contraction. Its weather resistance also improves, as the molecular alteration of the wood after this process means that moulds and insects no longer recognise it as a source of food.

In virtue of this robustness, ACCOYA® has a written guarantee of 50 years in use classes 1, 2 and 3 (at ground level), and 25 in use class 4 (underground or submerged in fresh water).

Natural light, vegetation and remembrance

The authors proposed that all the building’s reading spaces be oriented toward the garden. The design of the façade lets in plenty of natural light. At the same time, the interior provides a perfect view of the exterior vegetation and, in particular, the trees, ten in total: one for each victim of the attack.

Each of the lights that illuminate the rooms at night have an inscription in different alphabets: knowledge illuminates life. A phrase with a metaphoric power that is transmitted every night, when the light emanating from the library bathes the surrounding streets with the design of its façade with wooden curtain wall.

(To see all the images, consult the project file.)

La entrada Knowledge illuminates life se publicó primero en Grupo Gámiz.

The “ring model” or “doughnut model”, created by the Oxford economist Kate Raworth, is the inspiration for Amsterdam’s plan to design a city based on the circular economy. The aim of the authorities of the Dutch capital is to come out of the recession caused by the coronavirus with a vision committed to the environment that successfully fosters economic reactivation.

It is a proactive and ecological response to the debacle caused by Covid-19. Looking to the future full of confidence in the socioeconomic results of a sustainable commitment in the medium and long term.

Regarding sustainable architecture, one of the measures already presented by Marieke van Doorninck, deputy mayor of Amsterdam, is the creation of the “materials passport”, that which aims to seek reusable materials in demolitions and promote the use of sustainable materials, such as wood, in the construction of the new buildings.

Amsterdam on the river Amstel

Objective: to get out of the hole

Kate Rawoth’s theory states that socioeconomic success must be shaped like a doughnut. The inner ring is what we need to live better than now: nothing more nothing less than meeting the sustainable development goals of the UNO (foods, health, education, equality, income, housing, etc.). Not enjoying these minimums cancels the concept of well-being and places us, literally, in a hole (the doughnut hole).

The outer ring is the limit of well-being that humanity can aspire to without damaging the environment. From this perspective it can be deduced that general well-being is located in the middle (ground) of the doughnut, where the needs of living beings and the planet in general are satisfied fairly.

Construction in wood, one of the keys to Amsterdam’s plan

Focusing on architecture and sustainability, within this plan, wood becomes a key component. A construction component, in fact. The deputy mayor Ms van Doorninck states that the city will regulate that the construction materials used most frequently are recycled or natural, and biologically based such as wood.

Aside from the terrible aftereffects of the coronavirus, Amsterdam has a serious housing problem, and constructing most buildings traditionally, for example using materials such as steel and concrete, would radically increase the local CO2 emissions, already very worrying, that are up by 31% in the city since the 1990s.

Floating wooden house in Amsterdam

Wood reduces carbon dioxide emissions

Wood is fundamental in Amsterdam’s plan because building with wood drastically reduces carbon dioxide emissions. Studies state that replacing steel and concrete with wooden structures could reduce CO2 emissions by between 14% and 31% worldwide.

The explanation lies, in addition to the virtues of its cell structure (wood absorbs CO2, making air healthier), in the minimal energy generated in its production. Unlike other materials such as steel and aluminium, wood products avoid greenhouse gases in their manufacturing process.

Oak forest

Sustainability is beautiful and creative

Many architects design their projects with ecological responsibility. Today it is much easier with the structural possibilities of wood, which makes it possible to develop sustainable construction solutions full of creativity, warmth and natural beauty. 

One example is wooden curtain walling. Thanks to products such as VIGAM, the only oak glulam beam in the world with the CE marking for structural use, by GRUPO GÁMIZ, lightweight façades all over the world are starting to acquire the unique personality and elegance of wood, and saved from other materials with a less ecological footprint, such as steel and aluminium.

Cambridge Biomedical Campus | Arch: Herzog & de Meuron | Product: Application of curtain wall – Oak glulam

Architects also have access to ACCOYA® sustainable wood, the perfect product for exterior construction. This acetylated wood (a toxin-free process) has a written 50-year guarantee.

In short, it will be solutions like these that help architects all over the world to build post-coronavirus Amsterdam.

La entrada Amsterdam reinvents itself as a doughnut se publicó primero en Grupo Gámiz.

Architecture and construction are two of the pillars that are moving the world towards sustainability and common sense. This can be seen in the multiple concepts that are springing up as a response to a society that is ever more committed to the environment: buildings with almost no energy consumption (ECCN), bioconstruction, zero-energy buildings, sustainable architecture, green architecture, bioclimatic architecture, organic architecture…

One of these concepts is the Passivhaus standard. Emerging in 1988 in Germany (Passivhaus means “passive house” in German), it has been moving from theory to practice as society’s awareness and science and technology have smoothed its way. In essence, the purpose of this building model is to obtain comfort in the home by monitoring certain basic principles.

In terms of figures, Passivhaus seeks to reduce the energy consumption of buildings by around 70% with respect to those constructed with conventional building standards.

Passive House

What is Passivhaus in 5 key points?

The Passivhaus housing building standard has five fundamental aspects, that have to work together:

1. High level of insulation in walls and roofs
2. Absence of heat bridging
3. Hermetic enclosure
4. High performance windows
5. Efficient ventilation systems

Taking this into account, and although in the Passivhaus concept does not prioritise any material, it is logical that one of the most requested construction materials in this standard, and with the best prospects for the future, is that which has been contributing to energy efficiency and sustainable construction for centuries even when these two concepts were still light years away: wood.

Wood reduces energy consumption from minute zero

If the objective of Passivhaus is to reduce the high energy consumption of conventional construction, what better contribution than doing so from the start. Wood is a material that barely generates CO2 emissions during its production. Nothing like the environmental impact that other construction materials generate such as steel, concrete, lime or mortar.

In addition to constituting a sustainable solution from the start, wood suits practically every single one of the key points of Passivhaus: it is an excellent natural thermal insulator that helps eliminate heat bridging.

At the same time, wood is hygroscopic, which enables it to regulate the air quality and temperature: it absorbs the environmental humidity in winter and distributes it in summer. Comfort is assured naturally.

Detached residence, Trentino  |Carpentry: Damiani-Holz&KO S.P.A./AG. | Product: Oak glulam

And the best is still to come: wood certified for structural use

At GRUPO GÁMIZ we are the designer and manufacturer of VIGAM, the only oak glulam beam in the world with the CE marking for structural use. This means that we are not just talking about decoration and interior design, but also resistance, function and structural use. 

And, of course, we are talking about beauty, quality, warmth, sensations of being at one with nature. Design, creativity and sustainability. Thanks to VIGAM, architects do not have to renounce anything in their projects: if they want wood, now beautiful, sustainable and functional solutions are possible.

For example, with VIGAM it is possible to build wooden curtain walling without using non-sustainable or cold materials such as steel or aluminium.

Cambridge Biomedical Campus | Arch: Herzog & de Meuron | Product: Application of curtain wall – Oak glulam

ACCOYA@: sustainable wood, without toxins, with a 50-year written guarantee

Passivhaus is not immune to the wood of the future. ACCOYA® acetylated wood is a sustainable wonder. Made from conifers and modified in a process that does not involve any toxic substances, the result is a wood that as elegant as it is powerful, ideal for exteriors and perfectly valid for interiors thanks to its quality and elegance.

Residence in Luis Manzaneque | Arch: By More Arquitectos | Product: Cladding of the exterior façade – Accoya® horizontal scantlings and oak glulams

Suitable for all types of finishes, its strength is inscribed in its written 50-year guarantee.

Passivhaus yet another example that the progress of sustainable architecture is unstoppable. Society demands this and, little by little, so do the institutions. The good news is that architects, weaving dreams of comfort and habitability, have wood products of certified quality, which, in addition to transmitting beauty, care for the planet.

La entrada Passivhaus and certified wood: common sense brings them together, the environment wins se publicó primero en Grupo Gámiz.