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2016 MCHAP

Landsteiner Campus Toluca

Gerardo Asali de la mora

Toluca de Lerdo, Mexico

May 2014

PRIMARY AUTHOR

Gerardo Asali de la Mora / DAS

CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR

León Amezcua (Project leader)

CLIENT

Landsteiner Scientific

PHOTOGRAPHER

Rafael Gamo

OBJECTIVE

It is on the north limit of the industrial Park Toluca 2000, on the bank of the Lerma River where the Landsteiner Pharmaceutical Industry took the opportunity to develop its Campus. The main challenge came from the necessity to combine several diverse functions in a relatively limited place. 4 units share out the 9,970 m2 of the site, each one hosting a specific activity of the pharmaceutical group: two laboratories of production, a distribution center and corporative offices. The diagram of the flow of persons and materials, and specially the entrance and exit of goods around the production center, defined the plan of the project. The line traced by the river rules the project. It is emphasized by a filter of planted trees, which dialogues with the direct natural surroundings, generating an ecosystem inside of the industrial complex. A series of parallel lines generate the flow of circulations, their connections articulate and define the volumes of the buildings. Into the same formal vocabulary, each building develops its own personality through a delicate work on the scale, color and material. The main volumes are interconnected through the light structure of an extensive green roof, which links up every access of the complex with gardened areas. Between the blocks, this green pedestrian area optimizes the microclimate of the building and offers the employees a relaxing surrounding. This green articulation provides softness and freshness into the rigidity that requires such program through its function and scale.

CONTEXT

The project is located in Toluca, the capital of the state of Mexico, which lays 63 kilometers (39 mi) southwest of Mexico City. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area. The municipality of Toluca, along with twelve other municipalities, makes up the metropolitan population of 1,610,786 in Greater Toluca as the fifth most populous metropolitan area in Mexico. Through its good transportation access, including roads, rails and airport, and its close distance to Mexico City, Toluca’s plane is one of the main industrial center of the country. Although most of the industrial activities are settled on the east side of the city, directly linked with the Toluca -Mexico City highway, in a mostly urban context, Toluca 2000 is an industrial park located on the north side of the city along the bank of the Lerma River. The industrial park lays close to the Toluca’s international airport, along the highway which links Guadalajara to the Federal District. Thus in a non-build, agriculture oriented environment, Toluca 2000 creates a new industrial complex bound with a settlement, housing workers from the industries and the airport. The Lerma River, which crosses the area, has had chronic problems with pollution. For the last 10 years it has been in a regeneration process, focus on wastewater treatment, to improve on public health and biodiversity. The project has taken into consideration this situation, and beyond the regional norms has given a remarkable example of environmental consciousness.

PERFORMANCE

The project complied with most of the requirements of sustainability define by the U.S. Green Building Council; it’s in process of evaluation for the Gold LEED certification, which is particularly challenging due to the complexity of pharmaceutical industry. Thus the campus would be the first pharmaceutical building of Latin America with the label of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The campus combines a huge number of ecological strategies, as the use of local material and local workers, waste treatment or the creation of micro-climate through orientation and vegetation. Water use and conservation is a main topic. The rainwater is harvested on the rooftop and gather in a 128 m3 stormbreaker soakaway, meanwhile the wastewater is cleaned up in a sewage treatment disposal. Both sources of non-potable water are then stored in a 182 m3 cistern. This recovered water is used for three purposes: the cooling system, the irrigation system and back to the bathroom toilets and urinals. Also, no wastewater is thrown away without treatment, so the Campus does contribute to the regeneration of the Lerma River. In order to save energy, 20% of the hot water used in Campus, is originated in the 45 Photovoltaic Panels located on the rooftop; only the 80% of it comes from the water heating system. When the water from the cooling system evaporates, the steam is taken through a condenser to the hot water storage tank, so anything is really unused.

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