The Government of the Canary Islands relies on a series of 24h essential services, related to security and emergencies and that, to this day, are located in dispersed facilities. In order to increase the response capacity against natural hazards, climate change, pandemics, cyber attacks or terrorism, the Government called, in 2021, a public tender for the design of the Essential Services Buildings, one in Tenerife and one in Gran Canaria, with a total investment of almost 80 million euros. Fernando Menis's entry won with two identical yet autonomous high-performance technological buildings, each will house each over 500 public employees and have over 20,000 m2 of built area.
Each ESE has got an outer ring, acting as a buttress, to resist, dissipate, and reduce the impact of giant waves, tidal waves, even lava rivers. In the event of lava rivers or tsunamis, the organic geometry will dissipate the element to the sides and reduce the effects on the building. Very ductile concrete structures will allow deformation and the dissipation of energy without affecting their resistant capacity.
The large sidewalks in the access areas and the 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 city. The interior garden featuring a great biodiversity and the rest areas distributed throughout the building will give the employees the possibility of compensating for the extreme stress their work usually entails. The building also includes a slot 2.80 m wide and 300 m long to provide 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.
The glazed façade, made with low-emissive double glass, 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. Resilient against winds of more than 280 km/h, it is also able to resist impacts from solid elements. The horizontal slat system allows the view of the exterior both from the sitting position at the 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.
Both buildings will have a Data Processing Center, each 350m2, 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 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 90 kW to generate electrical energy and support the production of air conditioning. Its finish with picón (local volcanic stone) improves the energy efficiency of the building by increasing its thermal inertia and its high acoustic absorption due to its porosity, will reduce noise pollution from the heliport.
Team:
Design Team: Fernando Menis + IEOCI
Architect: Fernando Menis
Data Centers Specialists: DEERNS
Structure Engineers: MARTÍNEZ SEGOVÍA
Heliports Specialists: ESTEL Consulting
Sustainable Construction Specialists: SED-IA ARCHITECTURE
Image Credits: ©Fernando Menis
