Revealing the thermal environmental quality of the high-density residential tall building from the Brazilian bioclimatic modernism: The case-study of Copan building

Abstract

Looking back to the glorious years of Brazilian modernism between 1930 and 1964, the country´s architectural heritage reveals an environmental design approach still relevant to buildings of today. In this context, the COPAN building (1966), located in São Paulo (latitude 23°S), is one of the most iconic buildings of its time with 1.160 residential units encompassing various types of studio flats (called in Portuguese “kitnets”) as well as one, two and three bedroom apartments distributed across six blocks of independent vertical circulation accesses. This naturally ventilated tall building is recognized by its massive concrete curvilinear structure of 140 m high, shaded towards the north and northwest orientations by horizontal concrete brise-soleis and opened with a single glazed curtain wall on the south and southeast orientations. The thermal performance of the Copan building was investigated by means of fieldwork and analytical procedures. The fieldwork included measurements in loco of environmental variables in four residential units, during warm and cooler periods of the year (2016) and interviews with a sample of 100 occupants, this was followed by thermal dynamic computer simulations performed with the Thermal Analysis Simulation Software (TAS). The adaptive comfort model defined in ASHRAE 55-2013 was adopted as the performance criteria for analytical studies. One of the main conclusions of these technical studies was about the combined effect of thermal inertia, external shading and controlled natural ventilation resulting in steady thermal conditions, with air temperatures oscillating between 24 °C and 26 °C when external temperatures reach as high as 32 °C in a typical warm afternoon.