Vertical Extension and Improving of Existing Buildings

Joan Artés,Gerardo Wadel,Núria Martí

doi:10.2174/1874836801711010083

Joan Artés, Gerardo Wadel + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.2174/1874836801711010083

Copy DOI

Abstract

Low-density urban models, widely diffused in Spain until 2008, have been strongly criticized because they produce a great strain on the land, high infrastructure costs, increasing maintenance expenses, energy waste and pollution from excessive transport, time wasted commuting and more bedroom communities. To counterbalance this effect, opponents are claiming for a review of the capacity that the conventional city, with its higher population density and mixed uses, may still possess. One possibility that has been explored is the vertical extension of buildings, which capitalizes on the remaining buildable space characteristic of many older buildings, and at the same time, refurbishes the housing block and improves standards of energy efficiency, safety and accessibility. The challenge is not only technical - it is clear what needs to be done and how to do it - but it is also social and fiscal; in other words, how do we get organized and how do we finance such a project? The preferred construction system for vertical extensions is industrialized and uses two main materials: steel and wood. The system involves the use of two-dimensional panels and 3D pods that, once completed in the factory, are transported to the worksite, lifted by a crane and installed on the roof of the building. From refurbishing the existing building to adding the new vertical extension, the entire operation takes four months. The experience of this vision and its application in the area of the Example in Barcelona, coming soon to other central neighborhoods in Spanish cities, allows us to present our first results: the detection of over 2,000 buildings with remaining buildable space, the need to vertically extend 50 buildings and our completed projects, in some cases already inhabited, of which half a dozen are currently undergoing environmental evaluation using our own tool.

Highlights

The urban explosion in the last 20 years in the majority of Spanish cities has taken over more land in urban areas than in the previous 2000 years [1]
The European Union warns of the inconveniences of sprawled, spread or unorganized [3] urban areas in its “White Book of Sustainability in Urban Planning” by the Social and Economic Committee and the Ministry of Spanish Housing
In response to the need for a compact, complex and efficient city, and to address ecological issues, we propose a new kind of urbanism organized by a three-tier strategy: aboveground, ground level and underground (Fig. 1) with vertical and horizontal consistency to achieve a higher level of self-sufficiency and habitability [5]

Summary

Introduction

The urban explosion in the last 20 years in the majority of Spanish cities has taken over more land in urban areas than in the previous 2000 years [1]. The resulting legacy of this accelerated and expansive growth is what we know nowadays as urban sprawl [2] This type of development has provoked an uncontrollable consumption of the land and uses an important amount of energy and resources for urban planning and transport means, while exposing us to the nature of consumption in itself, which tends to outdate new progress in record time. The European Union warns of the inconveniences of sprawled, spread or unorganized [3] urban areas in its “White Book of Sustainability in Urban Planning” by the Social and Economic Committee and the Ministry of Spanish Housing. As a solution, they propose a compact city to reduce environmental impact, avoid social segregation and

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion