General characteristics

Facades

The best thermal insulation values have been determined in the facade solutions with a high sunshade factor in the glass. The facades are clad on the outside with a curtain wall that is fully glazed on the exterior face. Inside, the wall is divided into completely transparent glass zones with 10mm glass +16mm chamber and 6+6 security glazing and opaque zones clad on the inside with plasterboard and gypsum wallboard partitions, as well as mineral-wool high-strength insulation.

Protection from the sun is achieved through high-reflective indoor curtains. The ground floor entrance to the office block is via double-leaf transparent glass double sliding doors with motion sensor automatic operation to create an intermediate space between indoors and out to harness the energy efficiency of the community hall.

Structure

The building structure is very rigid, comprising reinforced concrete floors and pillars.

Flooring

The garage floor is of polished concrete.
On the ground floor, the hall flooring is a combination of laminate flooring, large stoneware tiles and carpet.

The ground-floor lobbies are carpeted and all bathroom floors are made from polished concrete screed. The finish on the staircases comprises stone-treated granite tiles. Each office floor has a raised access floor.

Claddings and walls

All the different sector separations are made from a block of exposed concrete painted white in the community spaces and left as is inside the offices. Non-sector separations are made from gypsum wallboard partitions painted white in community spaces and clad with wooden boards, different models of cement tiling and ceramic tiles in the bathrooms.

The focal point in the lobby is made from a block of exposed concrete painted white and finished with wooden boards with indirect lighting, giving the reception area a very warm feel.

The top half of the stairways has been clad while the bottom half features exposed concrete. A play of indirect lighting ensures the staircases are well lit but not too bright.

Carpentry and hardware

The offices have been left as large open spaces to enable distribution according to each tenant’s requirements. The wide entrance doors to the offices are finished in wood, complying with sectioning laws.

The joinery in the central courtyard, the women’s bathroom windows, is painted white wood.

In the fire escapes, the access doors are standard emergency doors made from painted white steel and the railings are steel vertical balusters also painted white.

False ceilings

The exposed concrete ceiling has been left on the office floors, making a false ceiling perimeter that is open (for recovering machinery) and accessible and which houses the air-conditioning installations and cable trays to facilitate distribution for future uses. The false ceiling is finished in painted white gypsum. The floor of the bathrooms, hallways and lift area have a gypsum false ceiling which is painted white.

Air-conditioning and ventilation

Measures have been taken to deliver an indoor environment of suitable conditions while at the same time saving energy on thermal installations.

Each office has its own Mitsubishi aircon system distributed by a plenum through the raised access floor and supported by air supply grilles in the facade line.

A detailed thermal load calculation has been made, with optimised cooling/heating equipment power selection. The chosen equipment is high-efficiency with adjustable power and integrated heat recovery.

The building has individualised temperature control zones so that rooms not in use are not treated. Zoning was carried out by providing thermostats and a controller for each room. At the same time there is a control system guaranteeing the correct and efficient operation of all elements.

The cooling circuits and equipment are designed with a variable cooling flow and heat recovery to maximise efficiency and optimise consumption.

The ventilation system has a recovery system to harness the indoor thermal conditions.

Electricity and lighting

EThe building has two photovoltaic panels on the roof to support the common services. Each office has trays in the access floor to distribute electrical, voice and data wiring.

The use made of the access floor is important as this underground space acts as a plenum in air diffusion, and inappropriate wiring distribution may impact its efficiency.

As mentioned previously, there are also easy access trays in the false ceilings for new cabling distribution. An effort was made in this regard to deliver good energy efficiency, taking suitable measures to cut consumption:

• Making maximum benefit of natural lighting by having a large glazed area but controlling excess radiation with the curtains.
• Rational use of artificial lights through a lighting control and management system that turns them on only when the natural light does not guarantee minimum lighting comfort conditions.
• Use of low-power led lights to deliver energy-performance values below those stipulated by the Spanish building code.

Ocean Building, Port of Barcelona

Outstanding building with views to the sea and the city of Barcelona at your feet, designed by architect Ricardo Bofill.

A privileged seafront location next to the Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta promenade makes this office building an ideal choice for creating a perfect setting for your business.