CONTEXT

Ágora-Bogotá is part of a major urban regeneration strategy promoted by Corferias, the city´s fair and exhibition complex. The initiative aims to develop the fairground towards the grand avenues close by, transforming an old industrial quarter into a new urban centrality in the geographical heart of the city, halfway between the historic center and the airport. Initiated by a public-private partnership, Ágora-Bogotá contributes to the economic, political, academic and cultural development of the community, on local, regional and global scales. Its specific events, as well as the economic activity generated by its visitors, positions the complex as a powerful catalyst of urban and social development. In order to liberate public space in the dense surroundings, the project seeks verticality in a compact building with a stacked program in 5 levels of meeting rooms, lobbies and service areas. Around it, public spaces of different appeal are arranged: civil, congregational and green areas, each of them vital to this part of Bogotá. Inside, the concatenation of lobbies, halls, terraces and balconies challenges the classical separation of interior and exterior and stages the project as an encapsulated fragment of the city, establishing a dialogue with the city`s urban landscape and its impressive mountain backdrop. Its rational design and the desire to be noticeable as a space of encounter, provides the building with a notorious presence, aiming to become part of Bogota´s collective conscience and imagination.

PERFORMANCE

The project employs an active breathing envelope in response to the city´s particular climate. Natural lighting and ventilation provide a level of comfort unparalleled in the convention center building type, with minimal energy consumption. Sophisticated technological systems are in place, located behind the translucent ceiling panels and in floor boxes, providing endless ways to arrange events and operate the building. The equatorial mountain climate of Bogotá at 4º N and 2650 MAMSL, with stable average temperatures (13,5°C) but high daily fluctuation (0 to 25°C), calls for a specific approach to climate control. Pursuing free cooling, a breathing glass façade captures fresh air, treats it acoustically, and by natural draft, circulates it through the building. The facade perspires, as the fairly high U-value (4.5 W/m2K) allows for heat exchange with the outside. Ranges of translucent and opaque screen prints provide low solar factors to critical areas and expose other areas to heat the building naturally. Rainwater collection, landscaping and a permeable covering of the surrounding public spaces complement the set of sustainable strategies. The project draws on sophisticated control systems to achieve optimal energy efficiency and comfort levels. Temperature and CO2 sensors in the meeting rooms activate the façade´s "gills," motorized windows that regulate air inlet and make the natural ventilation strategy visible from the outside, reflecting the constant mediation between changing indoor and outdoor conditions.