Residential architecture: How to combine fixed and adjustable slats in a discreet and functional design
The “Residencial Marqués de la Cadena” building is the gateway to the newly built neighbourhood on the banks of the Ebro River as it passes through Zaragoza. Built on former industrial land, it is the first building built in this environment, and is an exercise in urban recovery of the city.
The building has the BREEAM “very good” certificate, which demonstrates the excellence of the design carried out by Ingennus Urban Consulting, and which has made it a benchmark for the standards in terms of sustainability and energy efficiency that should mark residential architecture in the coming years.
Location: Zaragoza, Aragon
Client: Beta Conkret
Architects: Ingennus
Typology: Residential Architecture
Sun protection needs
The project corresponds to a rectangular building, in a free-standing layout, in a ground floor configuration and seven elevations. The exterior façades incorporate a projected cladding in white, which contrasts with the baseboards at the ends in tile red, which is where the lattices are installed, in continuous vertical sections.
The design of the building, focused on energy efficiency and making the most of the layout and orientation of the building, required the enclosure of the kitchen and drying areas by means of slats, both as systems for regulating sunlight and concealing views.
With a budget of just over 4M euros, and high demands in terms of sustainability, a design was requested that would maximise the return on investment, with an undoubted aesthetic appeal and that had functionality as its main consideration. This is where our combination of fixed and adjustable slats has important technical advantages and proves to be an ideal solution.
Our contribution to the project
The design of the lattices has been based on the combination of fixed and adjustable slats, two products with different capacities and functions, which in our range maintain a uniform exterior aesthetic. For the parapet of the terraces, a system of fixed slats was designed, and above this, a system of adjustable lattices. The assembly is mounted on a tubular aluminum structure that conceals and integrates both systems.
On the parapet, the
UPF-150
at 25º fulfil their function of concealing views and reflecting direct sunlight, while allowing homogeneous ventilation of the terraces thanks to the “U” shaped arrangement of the enclosure. As it does not require horizontal crossbars, the integration of these fixed and adjustable slats is fluid and does not require a visual separation between elements.
On the parapet we mount our
UPO-150
type adjustable slat lattices, which provide several points of inclination (including 25º so that they integrate perfectly with the UPF-150 fixed lattices), and excellent resistance, very relevant factors both for the design and for the strong winds for which Zaragoza is known and especially on the banks of the Ebro.
