Teleclub with Thermal Buffers
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
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Project Description
The new Teleclub is the only meeting place in Noviercas, a 150 inhabitants remote rural village in Soria (Spain). Everything happens here. It hosts everyday social life, public events and even becomes an extension of the domestic. A flexible social condenser that by means of the thermal buffer adapts to the changing programme and the rigorous climate.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Other Funds
Leader (2017-2019)
Description of the project
Summary
The building, winner of a design competition, maintains and updates the social dynamics. It is located in the same place where the old village bar was, that housed the only then existing TV (teleclub) in this village, today part of the so-called “Empty Spain”, an area suffering severe depopulation (this area present one of the lowest density on the entire Europe; values are below 10 inhab/km2 that is consider demographically desert)
Few inhabitants in winter, some more in summer. The answer is a flexible building capable of responding to the needs of daily life: cafeteria, a place where the elderly play cards, bakery, bank... And it is also able to host all the inhabitants for events, parties, theatres and even birthdays.
The building is integrated into the landscape and culture of this village of low houses and gabled roofs by using traditional materials and techniques, updating them to contemporary architecture. As occurs in the shell where the same bricks and tiles are used, diluting the boundary between facade and roof.
Key objectives for sustainability
The key objectives of the Teleclub in terms of sustainability are mainly refered to, first of all, reduced the energy consumption; Thermal buffers cover this daily goal. And in long term, we consider flexibility as a key element for sustainability since it is fundamental to be able to accomodate current uses and even not yet considered future uses. On this way, lifespan is extended because it will be still useful.
Flexibility is achieved through sliders, mobile partitions and doors that allow the extension of the main spaces towards the thermal buffers; spaces in between that, as well as favouring thermal behaviour, generate a spatial relief by diluting the limit with the outside, prolonging the activities towards the square.
The thermal buffers are a way of updating ancient thermal knowledge in a harsh climate with very strong temperature oscillations throughout the year. In winter they are solar collectors that preheat the air to minimize the thermal rise. In summer, they prevent overheating thanks to their geometry (shading) and their ability to self-ventilate. They can also be opened completely to generate cross ventilation.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The construction responds to the need to adapt to the environment (harsh climate, remote rural village) and the means (material and economic).
The buffers are built by duplicating the skin of the main spaces with a polycarbonate layer. They are 1/3 of the surface that helps to acclimatize the rest of the building. In this way, the complete thermal comfort of the building is achieved by climatizing only 2/3, thus optimizing its use and maintenance costs.
The structure enhances and highlights the order. It is executed by in situ concrete ribbed slabs that show a combination of rhythmic sloping and horizontal ribs that helps to understand the space. The suspended lights float at the 2.70 datum, to emphasise the two stratums, visible in the outer shell.
The use of a continuous concrete floor accentuates the flexible and extensible nature through the entire building. In the interior, natural light reflected in the concrete of the floors and slabs reinforces the geometry of the spaces, giving them a welcoming warmth. At night, the role of light is reversed and the polycarbonate turns the building into a lighthouse element that draws attention to the main meeting place of the village.
Key objectives for inclusion
The building itself is integrated into the landscape and culture of this village of low houses and gabled roofs by using traditional materials and techniques, updating them to contemporary architecture. As occurs in the shell where the same bricks and tiles are used, diluting the boundary between facade and roof.
Its role in the village is fundamental, because in this social conderser, everything happens. Therefore, it is a real urban catalyst because in this small community of only 150 inhabitants, all activities have an inclusive and transversal character. Both in the day-to-day card games and in the occasional festive events, the building is active as a focus of interaction among the neighbors.
Results in relation to category
Since its completion, the building has received multiple awards. It has been nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2022. It has also been selected for the XV Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU) whose main theme is "Full Spain. Empty Spain". He has also been a finalist for the FAD Architecture Awards, the oldest awards in Europe and given for Spain and Portugal. Finally, it has been nominated for the French association AMO Prix/Award in the "best urban catalyst" category
The different juries of awards have highlighted: "The volume and texture of the building are perfectly integrated in the physical and social context, with architectural strategies adjusted to the budget: constructive austerity, thermodynamic rigor thanks to the thermal buffers and natural light characterize a small volume that manages to provide the importance that deserves the only public meeting place of the village". In general they have highlighted both the youth of the architects and the ability to optimize material and energy resources in such a complex context.
It has also had an impact on the national media, being the most read story in the most read newspaper (El País) for several days. The Teleclub of Noviercas is often cited as an example of a bold commitment to youth talent by the City Council and as a strategy that, through architecture, is able to revitalize and fix population in one of the least populated areas of Europe.
How Citizens benefit
The building, winner of a design competition, maintains and updates the social dynamics. It is located in the same place where the old village bar was, that housed the only then existing TV (teleclub) in this village, today part of the so-called “Empty Spain”, an area suffering severe depopulation.
Few inhabitants in winter, some more in summer. The answer is a flexible building capable of responding to the needs of daily life: cafeteria, a place where the elderly play cards, bakery, bank... And it is also able to host all the inhabitants for events, parties, theatres and even birthdays.
At a certain point in the project process, we realized that the brief was really about providing a meeting space in one of the places in Europe where there are the fewest people to meet. Therefore, the responsibility for the project transcends architecture as it is clearly linked to social and demographic issues. The mayor often says that the Teleclub is fundamental to providing citizens with the same fundamental rights they would have access to in a city.
Innovative character
However unspectacular it may sound, we firmly believe that an anti-heroic, sober approach is the most appropriate to the task at hand. Recently, an architecture magazine described the building as an exercise of common sense socially, constructively and bioclimatically.
The building does not try to attract attention, it takes very seriously the responsibility to become part of the community, to integrate itself to act as a fundamental piece. It responds to the social responsibility of architecture in a way that multiplies the possibilities and helps the development of the village. It is an unimaginable position in an urban context because the amount of activities that are housed here usually translate into a variety of places while in this case it is the architecture that provides the tools to accommodate all imaginable uses, just what the people demanded for this piece that acts as its heart.
