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.)

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Since the journal Arquitectura y Empresa was launched in 2016, its bosses did not want it to be limited to being just another architecture website, “merely a space on the web to post projects and attractive images”. The nature of its content and its activity, eminently practical and aiming to generating synergies in the sector, has transformed it into an essential benchmark for the construction sector in Spain.

This motivated and proactive drive is evident in their meetings between architects and companies, their “Foros Contract”, which are not to be missed and are eagerly awaited by architecture professionals and the heads of companies related to the sector, such as GRUPO GÁMIZ.

The human factor is the key to success in collaborations

Short distances, personal service, closeness in the transfer of information and opinions, these things are like gold in a world marked by an apparent digital proximity that sometimes seems so distant. Even in pandemic times, where human contact is so fragile. The organisers of the latest Foro Contract, held in Málaga last March, went to great effort, like they did last year, to ensure the preventive measures were as safe as these times require.

There we were, available to speak to architects and listen carefully to them. Because at GRUPO GÁMIZ we are very proud of our products, of our projects and, in general, of our contribution to sustainable architecture and architectural creativity. But we have always felt that innovation is especially important, and therefore we need to know what the people with the designs of future constructions in their hands are looking for.

VIGAM and ACCOYA®: wooden curtain walling and exteriors that withstand everything

We spent a few very pleasant, intense and creative days in Málaga. We presented our products and, as expected, two of our gems were a great success with the architects: VIGAM and ACCOYA®.

VIGAM is, no more and no less, the only oak glulam beam in the world with the CE marking for structural use. This certified quality makes it possible, for example, to build wooden curtain walling, a solution that is widely used in northern European countries and that is gaining ground in our country. The result: warm and elegant façades, with all the flavour, beauty and warmth of wood, the oldest building material in the world.

At the same time, as official distributors of ACCOYA® in Spain, we have once again had the opportunity to share the incredible performance of this acetylated wood, for which we offer a 50-year written guarantee. ACCOYA® is becoming more widely known and used, but at the Foro Contract held in Málaga there were still some who were left open-mouthed when told about its almost invincible properties in exteriors: resistant and durable, it needs no maintenance is not affected by moulds or insects, as they do not recognise it as food thanks to a completely natural treatment that modifies its molecular structure.

In short: we have, once again, come away very content from this Foro Contract by Arquitectura y Empresa. Now it’s time to organise all our ideas and get back to work. Because we have seen that architects with creative and sustainable drive need creative and sustainable solutions.

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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.

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