Plan Arquitectos

Constitución Town Hall Building

Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos

Constitución Town Hall Building

Plan Arquitectos

PHOTOS
Plan Arquitectos (16)

STATUS
Built

AREA
3000 Sqft - 5000 Sqft

YEAR
2015

LOCATION
Constitución, Chile

TYPE
Government + Health › City Hall

Constitución Town Hall building was conceived not only because of the need to unify all local government offices in one building but also as part of the reconstruction of the city, which was devastated by an earthquake in 2010.

Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos

The building is located in the civic center and adjacent to Current Town Hall building, which should be remodel.

The city has a particularity compared to other medium-sized cities in central Chile, because, in front of its "main square", it has an equal sized site, open and walkable, called "The Civic Center ", which is transformed into a complex of two connected spaces visually unified.

Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos

In this "Civic Center", our project is defined a separate series of volumes and shapes isolated among themselves, where the existing building is located.

The virtue of this is that an open place originates and, therefore, drivable and observable from many points of view, being a noninvasive project to the current morphology of the place.

A number of circulations unify these volumes, including the existing building, allowing access to the town hall departments from different locations, resulting in a better versatility and approaching to the building by users.

Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos

The heights of the project are determined by volumes in context, maintaining two floor levels on the edge, same as the existing building, and three floor levels in the inner part of the project, matching the height of the already demolished ancient theater and its new replacement building.

On the other side, we had a technical difficulty on the foundation system, due to the presence of one meter depth underneath water, which surrounded the building by all sides on the underground parking level.

We opted for a foundation slab with a one meter outside ballast, opposed to the water uplifting pressure.

Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos

This solution was combined with a continuous waterproof membrane that prevents water ingress to the lower level.

The advantage of this solution lies in respecting the levels of groundwater flows, which is environmentally friendly, also achieving energy savings by this procedure.

Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos


Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos


Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos
Constitución Town Hall Building
©Plan Arquitectos

Plan Arquitectos
T +56 2 23347663 M +56 9 76484194
Plan Arquitectos
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