EL RODEO Social Eco-City

THE FIRST SOCIAL ECO-CITY IN THE WORLD INCLUDING ONLY EXPANDABLE AND FLEXIBLE HOUSES GROUPED IN COMPACT BULDINGS

2012-2015

PhD Architect LUIS DE GARRIDO

IC Prefabricados

Cali. Colombia

5.000 social houses VIP y VIS

 

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Luis De Garrido has projected in Colombia a bioclimatic, prefabricated, removable, ecological, and zero energy self-sufficient city. The city is constituted by social housing and is self-sufficient in water, energy and food.

The city is compact and is made based on 5,000 social houses grouped in compact blocks in order to achieve maximum ecological level and the highest level of quality of life, minimize the price of housing and minimize energy and resources consumption.

All houses in the city are expandable, even the dwellings included in multistory buildings. Thus the citizen access to one house at the lowest possible cost, and can be expanded over time, when necessary and when available the financial resources. In this sense Luis De Garrido has designed very ingenious and innovative types of housing blocks in order that all houses can be expanded at any time, irrespective of their location at any plant.

The city is self-sufficient in energy, water and food. That is, the same city generates water and energy needed by its citizens without connecting to municipal connections. On the other hand, the city includes various types of green areas, and different types of urban gardens, in order to ensure food self-sufficiency, and provide jobs to its citizens.

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Note: Luis De Garrido has made the project of urban development of the entire city and the entire urban planning project, with the detailed design of all urban areas of the city. Through these documents the construction of the city has been legalized, and has been granted a general license for construction (2013). Also Luis De Garrido has projected the full Master Plan and complete executive project of each and every one of the buildings of the city (2014), including all virtual images of the same (2015). However Luis De Garrido does not perform construction management of any building, so, even though the project has to be governed by the urban project for him drafted, the construction company can modify the design and implementation of any building the city. Luis De Garrido is not responsible for the changes that the construction company can perform along the execution of the project, raised misrepresenting the initial objectives and characteristics of the city set forth herein.

1. Architectural solution

El Rodeo Social Eco-City is a self-sufficient city composed entirely of social housing buildings located in Jamundí, south of Cali in Colombia. It is an ecological and bioclimatic city with high energy efficiency that includes only social housing (VIP and VIS houses) and all services necessary for self-sufficiency of the city (schools, markets, police station, fire department, health center services emergency, church, several social centers, various sports centers, parks, etc.) and all kinds of recreational spaces and green areas.

The city articulates in its urban structure several different types of social housing solutions. 30% are row VIS houses, detached, expandable, two heights, forming blocks of various dimensions. In the central part of each block the backyards of the houses are arranged. The remaining 70% are apartment buildings with different heights and with different types.

There are several blocks of flats in the city: 2 iconic housing blocks of 14 heights are placed at the entrance of the city; 6 rectangular blocks in eastern and central area of the city, and the rest are compact housing blocks with an iconic form of single-family gabled housing (installed in the collective subconscious of all human): the classic form of the Monopoly tabs. This form has been chosen for several reasons:

1) As the symbol globally accepted of the concept «home»,

2) In order to encourage the inhabitants of each block the feeling of «home» and create them a strong emotional and personal relationship with the building, despite sharing it with other 100 families.

3) In order to create a very compact urban fabric, while a large area of green, giving the impression that the city is formed only by several houses. To achieve these objectives the emotional housing design has been inspired by the Basque villages of northern Spain.

Housing blocks may look different, with different facade structure with a different color scheme, so that there are no two identical houses in the city. Similarly, the architectural structure of the blocks allows all houses have small differences inside each other so that no two houses are alike, and each user has the feeling that his home is unique.

The unique design of the housing buildings has several objectives.

1. All their inside houses are easily expandable. So you can buy a house with an area of 30 m2 (VIP house with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room), to be extended to 45 m2 at any time (adding an additional bedroom and a new bathroom). You can also buy a house of 45 m2 (Tope VIS), to be extended to 60 m2). The block is designed carefully in order that their appearance does not change when users will expand their homes.

To enable the expansion of houses a modular design has been made, allocating five modules for every 2 houses. Thus each house comprises two modules, and a fifth inner module serves for the extension of the two adjacent houses (so, in the inner expansion module two bedrooms and two bathrooms can be built). This empty module only has the structural beams, on which each user simply has to place the ground, and the windows of its facade.

2. The second objective of the design of the blocks is to ensure that their inner houses remain cool every time (around 25ºC), although temperatures in Cali range from 29ºC and 34ºC all year round. This has been achieved by arranging two parallel housing rows separated by a courtyard houses (with an average width of 4 m.), and closing the side walls in order to prevent sunlight penetration inside the buildings. As a first consequence, this patio generates and maintains a big bag of fresh air flowing through the houses continuously, cooling them by its path. At the top of the block there are houses with patios, that cover the inner courtyard, and through it the superheated air is evacuated by chimney effect.

3. The third objective of the design of the blocks is to have the shape of «house» tab of Monopoly. This conceptual shape of the blocks transmits their occupants the feeling of living in an ideal home, able to meet all their needs. There are no 2 identical blocks, and there are no two identical houses. Thus each user can choose the house that best fits his particular demands and his lifestyle.

In addition to the expandable housing blocks they have been designed various types of flexible and reconfigurable housing blocks.

In this type of block households have such a structure may have different internal configurations, depending on the particular demands of every possible occupant. The client holds an open space, which can be structured in several possible ways, or ask to be build in the desired manner. There are several types of houses, with an area ranging from 45 m2 (VIP), up to 60 m2 (Tope VIS).

2. Ecological Analysis

The buildings of El Rodeo Social Eco-City have been designed with the greatest possible ecological level since they met extensively with 39 ecological indicators identified by Luis De Garrido (for example, the known LEED evaluation system is based only in 3 parameters of these 39 ecological indicators):

1. Resource Optimization

1.1. Natural resources. They have taken full advantage of resources such as the sun (to generate hot water, and provide natural lighting to all households), the breeze, the land (to cool the housing buildings), rainwater (water tanks booking for watering the garden), … .. on the other hand, have installed water saving devices on taps, showers and cisterns complex.

1.2. Man made resources. The materials used have been fully optimized without  generating waste, because all the components of the buildings have been made in factory, with repetitive and modular dimensions.

1.3. Resources recovered, reused and recycled.

All building materials may be recoverable, repairable and reusable, so that buildings can have an infinite life cycle, and the least possible environmental impact.

On the other hand, the use of recycled and recyclable materials have been promoted, such as water pipes polypropylene sewer pipes polyethylene, chipboards OSB for interior doors, plywood boards for coatings, recycled glass for countertops kitchen and windows, etc …

2. Reduction of energy consumption

2.1. Construction.

The buildings have been built with minimal energy consumption. Prefabricated materials used have been made with a minimum amount of energy.

2.2. Use.

Due to the special bioclimatic design of buildings, the houses do not require air conditioning devices, and have a very low energy consumption (electricity consumption of appliances and LED lighting). At the top of each building, inside bioclimatic air extraction chimneys, several tanks interconnected water are located, to generate free and natural solar heated water for direct consumption in homes (inside chimneys high temperatures are reached, about 40 ° C).

2.3. Dismantling

All materials and architectural components used can be recovered easily to be repaired and reused later.

3. Use of alternative energy sources

The energy used is of two types: Solar thermal (deposits located in the solar chimneys to produce not water) and geothermal (architectural air cooling system, taking advantage of low temperatures existing inside the underground galleries beneath the garage) .

4. Reduction of waste and emissions

The houses do not generate any emissions, nor generate any waste, except organic (used to make natural fertilizer in orchards).

5. Improving health and welfare

All materials used are environmentally friendly and do not have any emissions that may affect human health. Similarly, houses are naturally ventilated, and take full advantage of natural lighting, creating a healthy environment that provides the best possible quality of life for the occupants of the houses.

6. Reduced price of the building and maintenance

The houses have been designed rationally, eliminating redundant, unnecessary or free games, allowing construction at the lowest possible price in this type of social housing (VIP-VIS).

3. Bioclimatic Features

The buildings remain fresh all year, despite high temperatures outside, due to various design strategies, without increasing the price of construction.

1. Natural cooling systems

The buildings are cooled by themselves in three ways:

• Avoiding heat.

The building complex is located near the Ecuador, and tropical climate. Therefore, they have provided all the windows facing north and south (no windows on the east and west so that no direct sunlight in the mornings and evenings). All overhangs and balconies are located north and south, to protect the windows from direct solar radiation. On the other hand, due to the very low cost of construction, there is no money available to place insulation or ventilated facades. Therefore, the insulation of facades has been created with the outside air itself. The system overhangs and balconies generates shadow continuously (since the path of the sun at this latitude) so in the north facade and the south facade an envelope of cool air that acts as exterior insulation wall is created precast concrete.

Buildings have a simple architectural cooling system, using a set of underground galleries. Outside air enters to some underground conduits from the central portion of each block. The air passes through the tubes overnight and is cooled as it passes. At the end, the fresh air enters to the central courtyard shaded block, where it is kept cool and ascends, crossing all homes, and cooling them by its path. On the other hand, and more importantly, due to their high thermal inertia, the buildings are cooled along all night, and remain fresh throughout the next day.

• Evacuating the hot air outside the building.

Hot air is evacuated through a set of solar chimneys located on top of the covered central courtyard.

2. Systems for storing fresh

Cool air generated at night (by natural ventilation and outside due to lower temperature) it accumulates in the floors and interior walls of high thermal inertia load. Thus the building remains cool throughout the day without any energy consumption.

3. Transfer Systems of cool air

Solar chimneys suck the air inside the central courtyard of the blocks. Thus rising air currents that force fresh air to the interior patio scroll through all the surrounding homes are created.

4. Natural ventilation

Houses are naturally and continuously ventilated through grids in access doors and interior doors. Similarly, housing transpires through the exterior walls, allowing natural ventilation without energy loss.

 

4.Highlights Innovations

— All houses are expandable, so that the occupants acquire the surface they really need and they really can pay, without mortgaging their future. The houses can be expanded when needed.

— Blocks have been designed with flexible and reconfigurable houses, so that each occupant can have a single house according to their particular needs.

— The construction system used allows the maximum possible ecological level,  as it involves the least possible energy consumption, least possible waste and emissions generation, because life cycle of buildings can become infinite, since all building components  can be recovered, repaired and reused.

— It has been achieved a perfect balance between the need to provide the building with a large thermal mass, and the desire to recover and reuse every one of its components. Therefore a structural system based on reinforced concrete slabs has been designed. These plates are assembled together by welding points and twinned metallic elements embedded in the concrete mass of each architectural element.

— The buildings have been designed thoroughly in order to be thermally self-regulated, and offer their occupants good comfort conditions, without the need for thermal conditioning devices.