Shedding Skins
Energy retrofitting
Parla, Spain
2022

The project’s goal was to develop substantial improvements in the building’s energy efficiency, providing sustainable solutions and enhancing the habitability of users.

The intervention addresses the ecological and spatial limitations of the existing building. Its goal: to dramatically improve energy efficiency, enhance user comfort, and introduce biophilic environments into the everyday life of its young occupants.

Located in the southern metropolitan area of Madrid, Parla is a working-class municipality with a dense residential fabric, characterized by mid-rise housing blocks and scarce public green spaces.

First stage of the building in which all the deficiencies to be corrected in the pre-existing building are detected.
Composed of a layer of thermal insulation adhered to the existing enclosure and ceramic cladding with a ventilated air chamber.
A perimeter gallery is created on the south facade, providing greater bioclimatic performance and a unique character to the main elevation of the building.
The roofs are reinforced to accommodate plant solutions with the addition of native species that require low maintenance.
The building is equipped with energy facilities from renewable sources based on solar panels and geothermal energy capture.

The main strategies to achieve these objectives focused on comprehensive interior rehabilitation, an external intervention on the building’s envelope, with an emphasis on the south facade, and the creation of two new outdoor recreational spaces on the roof, incorporating native plant species with low water demand and maintenance, thus generating biophilic atmospheres that promote human well-being.

(Fig. 1) South gallery façade elevation.

On the southern elevation — the building’s most prominent — a new element is introduced: a transparent gallery inspired by the Trombe wall system. Thus, this “second skin” — a lightweight, ventilated layer made of recycled aluminum and ceramic cladding, that not only insulates but also transforms the building’s identity.

(Fig. 2) Constructive sections of the Crystal Palace, including details of the ventilation louver system (1851).
(Fig. 3) Oase 7, Haus Rucker Co for the Documenta 5, 1972, Kassel.
(Fig. 4) Project detailed section.

This project begins with a return to the origins of passive energy design. In 1881, E.S. Morse described a system that could “utilize the rays of the sun for the purpose of heating and ventilating rooms and apartments of buildings.” Over a century later, this principle finds new expression in the transformation of a public school in Parla.

This addition slightly expands the footprint but remains within the local zoning parameters. Built with polycarbonate panels (U < 0.7 W/m²K), it filters solar radiation, shelters from wind and rain, and acts as a thermal buffer. In winter, it preheats incoming air; in summer, it facilitates cross-ventilation and provides shade. The result is a climate-conscious threshold, neither inside nor out, that modulates the experience of the school day.

Client
Madrid City Council

Status
Competition

Design dates
2022: Concept Design & Feasibility Study

Program
Energy retrofit

Team
Toni Cañellas, Juán Ginés, Santiago Gómez, Javier Martinez y Silvia Muñoz

Collaborators
-

Photography / Images
equipo.exe

Budget
350 K €

Gross area
170 m2