The external apperance of the CICCM is given by a skin which functions as a parasol and is separated from the glass enclosure, thus leaving outdoor space on the upper floors of the building. The outermost layer of the building is formed by an array of flat hexagonal-shaped aluminum panels that form a bee-hive pattern across its surface, each with different dimensions and angles, according to the position on the global geometry. These panels range from 1.50x0.60m to 4.00x1.50m approx in size and add up to around 21.000 in total, all of them 15mm thick and with a shiny polished finish. In between these hexagons there is a matrix of L.E.D. lights that will be able to change intensity and give a dynamic image to the facade. Each hexagon is held in place through a fixing that is shaped as a cross with four telescopically-expandable arms that meet at a central point in the axis which links them, through a cylindrical bar, to the support structure. These fixings allow, through a hinge in the middle of the joint, a vertical rotation to meet the angle of tangency of the surface for the specific location of each hexagon. The support for these elements is a spatial structure, following the bee-hive pattern as well, built with flat aluminum plates that join together at each vertex around the whole exterior of the building. This hexagonal pattern can be subdivided into triangular shaped individual elements, each holding a single hexagonal parasol at it topmost vertex. Adjoining five of these triangles (each with its hexagon fixed in its place) side by side forming a row, an assembly module is obtained. These modules are composed in the factory and are positioned on site with a crane, speeding up the construction process. Joining together these modules, one on top of the previous level, the whole skin is achieved, therefore enclosing the building’s facade. The joint between assembly modules consists of sections of a tubular element which leaves a hollow center that is filled with a cylinder once the connecting modules are positioned in their correct locations and with the exact angles. This structure bears its weight at the encounter with the horizontal slabs that form the floors of the building, passing its load to the main structure through a system of joints that allow thermal expansion and permit a tolerance correction that will absorb any measurement disagreement beetween the factory preassembled parts and the on-site built structure.
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FACADE ENGINEERING BY Envolventes Arquitectonicas ENAR S.L.
