Breathing Envelope

Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces

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    Project update November 2017 – Breathing envelope, Bogotá, Colombia

    In order to liberate public space in the dense surroundings, the complex is stacked vertically in five levels of exhibition halls, meeting rooms, lobbies, terraces, a large ballroom and service areas. Photo: Ágora Bogotá Centro de Convenciones.

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    Project update November 2017 – Breathing envelope, Bogotá, Colombia

    Temperature and CO2 sensors in the meeting rooms activate the motorized gills, which regulate air inlet and reveal the ventilation strategy. Photo: Ágora Bogotá Centro de Convenciones.

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    Project update November 2017 – Breathing envelope, Bogotá, Colombia

    The building features high levels of flexibility without compromising its architectural quality that is illuminated and ventilated naturally through an actively responding and acoustically sealed enclosure. Photo: Ágora Bogotá Centro de Convenciones.

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    Natural lighting and ventilation provide a level of comfort unparalleled in the convention center building type, with minimal energy consumption.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Ágora Bogotá is part of the major urban regeneration strategy of Corferias, the fair and exhibition complex of Bogotá. The initiative aims to develop the fairground towards the grand avenues close by, transforming an old industrial quarter into a new urban centrality in the geographical heart of the city. In order to liberate public space in the dense surroundings, the project seeks verticality in a compact building with a stacked program in five levels of meeting rooms, lobbies and service areas.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    The project employs an active breathing envelope in response to the city’s particular equatorial mountain climate. Different strategies have been developed with a diverse team of architects, engineers and consultants. Natural lighting and ventilation provide a level of comfort unparalleled in the convention center building type, with minimal energy consumption. Rainwater collection, landscaping and a permeable covering of the surrounding public space complement the set of sustainable strategies.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Façade details: Motorized blinds and ventilation gills, acoustic barrier, screen-printed glass.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Street level: Pedestrian entrances, lobbies and plazas, native flora enhancing ecology.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Cross section: Main ballroom on top with exceptional city views, stacked lobbies enhancing air flow.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Basement: 1055 car spaces and service areas (kitchen, storage, MEP) with independent vertical circulation.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Meeting levels: 4 main cores (structure, shafts, elevators) and spiral circulation around atrium

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Upper levels: Sky lobby with restrooms, terraces and VIPs on level 4 (P4), 4000 pax divisible ballroom on level 5 (P5).

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Pedestrian views of building and public spaces: Glass façade dimensions and corner solutions.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Night view: Notoriety through rationality, a new public icon for Bogotá.

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    Holcim Awards Latin America 2014 – Prize handover ceremony

    Acknowledgement for “Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia” (l-r): Jaime Hill, CEO Holcim Colombia; members of the winning team, Jens Richter, Estudio Herreros; Daniel Bermúdez, Daniel Bermúdez Arquitecto; and Ramón Bermúdez, Estudio Herreros.

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    Holcim Awards Latin America 2014 – Prize handover ceremony

    Representatives of all five Holcim Awards Acknowledgement prize winners for Latin America, recognised for outstanding public infrastructure projects in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti and Mexico.

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    Holcim Awards Latin America media briefing, Medellín, Colombia

    Daniel Bermúdez Samper, Daniel Bermúdez Arquitecto, Bogotá, Colombia – Holcim Awards Acknowledgement prize winner, for “Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces” in Bogotá, Colombia.

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    “Sustainability? Common sense and rationality” – Jens Richter

    Careful analysis of the site and its climatic conditions is at the heart of the Holcim Awards Acknowledgement prize winner. “Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces” in Bogotá, Colombia establishes a dialog between the fields of architecture and engineering, with both disciplines mutually informing one another, ultimately combining state-of-the-art technologies with formal expression.

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    Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

    Juan Herreros and Daniel Bermúdez

  • Awards Acknowledgement prize 2014–2015 Latin America

Ágora Bogotá will be unique. The city’s new convention center is stacked vertically to minimize the building’s footprint and to correspondingly maximize the surface area of outdoor public spaces in the heart of the city. The building features high levels of flexibility without compromising its architectural quality that is illuminated and ventilated naturally through an actively responding and acoustically sealed enclosure.

By Juan Herreros - Estudio Herreros, Madrid, Spain; Daniel Bermúdez Samper - Bermúdez Arquitectos, Bogota, Colombia

Ideas: Embodied Carbon

Ágora Bogotá will be unique. The city’s new convention center is stacked vertically to minimize the building’s footprint and to correspondingly maximize the surface area of outdoor public spaces in the heart of the city.

The building features high levels of flexibility without compromising its architectural quality that is illuminated and ventilated naturally through an actively responding and acoustically sealed enclosure.

Breathing Envelope

Project authors

Project updates

July 26, 2019 | ‘A’A’: Global design competitions | Bogotá, Colombia

Active envelope

Fairs, exhibitions and other types of conventions spotlight a city as well as its facilities. Yet, Ágora Bogotá, which won a LafargeHolcim Acknowledgement Prize in 2014, is a rather “discreet and silent” building. Where many were expecting a formal demonstration, the Colombian studio Bermúdez Arquitectos and the Spanish architecture office Estudio Herreros preferred to design a simple volume. The challenge here was not to design a strange, convoluted shape for this location, but rather to conceive a highly functional and compact place.

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November 16, 2017 | Project update | Bogotá, Colombia

Unconventional sustainability heralds start of deep urban transformation

Project update November 2017 – Breathing envelope, Bogotá, Colombia

The convention centre designed by Daniel Bermúdez (Colombia) and Juan Herreros (Spain) received an Acknowledgement prize for their vertically-stacked structure that minimizes building footprint and maximizes outdoor public space in the heart of Colombia’s capital. After five years in design and construction, the 64,000-square-metre convention centre opened in October 2017 by hosting the World Summit of Young Leaders.

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August 10, 2016 | Project Update | Bogotá, Colombia

Just one more floor to go

After more than 2 years of construction, the Ágora Bogotá is advancing well with only the top floor missing. The project is foreseen to be finalized in May 2017. 

The Ágora Bogotá is part of the major urban regeneration strategy of Corferias, the fair and exhibition complex of Bogotá. The initiative aims to develop the fairground towards the grand avenues close by, transforming an old industrial quarter into a new urban center in the heart of the city. In order to liberate public space in the dense surroundings, the complex is stacked vertically in five levels of exhibition halls, meeting rooms, lobbies, terraces, a large ballroom and service areas.

Read full article
June 29, 2015 | Project Feature | Bogotá, Colombia

A dialog between architecture and engineering

Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces, Bogotá, Colombia

The new Ágora Bogotá (Bogotá International Convention Center) in Colombia will be unique. The program is stacked vertically to minimize the building’s footprint and to correspondingly maximize the surface area of outdoor public spaces in the heart of the city. Illuminated and ventilated naturally through an actively responding and acoustically sealed enclosure, the building features high levels of flexibility without compromising its architectural quality. Daily fluctuations in temperature of up to 20°C require a specific approach to climate control. The project focuses on the optimization of natural ventilation and lighting, supported by refined control systems, to achieve optimal energy efficiency.

Read project feature in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)

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October 12, 2014 | Video – Project Author | Medellín, Colombia

“Sustainability? Common sense and rationality” – Jens Richter, Estudio Herreros

“Sustainability? Common sense and rationality” – Jens Richter

Careful analysis of the site and its climatic conditions is at the heart of the Holcim Awards Acknowledgement prize winner. “Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention center and public spaces” in Bogotá, Colombia establishes a dialog between the fields of architecture and engineering, with both disciplines mutually informing one another, ultimately combining state-of-the-art technologies with formal expression.

Watch video

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October 02, 2014 | Winners for Latin America Announced | Medellín, Colombia

Focus on people and place: Top sustainable construction Awards to Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico

Holcim Awards Latin America 2014 – Prize handover ceremony

The 12 winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 for Latin America focus mainly on adaptability and social performance, and show how sustainable construction is developing multi-disciplinary responses to the challenges facing design and building. A public park above a series of reservoirs in Medellín, a low-impact timber rainforest center in Costa Rica and a pedagogically-aligned school in Mexico were awarded gold, silver and bronze.

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July 05, 2014 | Regional Jury Report – Latin America | Medellín, Colombia

“Establishing a dialog between architecture and engineering, combining state-of-the-art technologies with formal expression” – Holcim Awards Jury

Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention …

The jury values the dialog that the project establishes between the fields of architecture and engineering, with both disciplines mutually informing one another, ultimately combining state-of-the-art technologies with formal expression. The deployment of high-tech mechanical systems – for ventilation, lighting, heating, cooling, water management and power generation, including the use of surface geothermal energy storage – is done with restraint, leading to an architecture that appears noble, quiet and discreet – technology not for technology’s sake, but at the service of users, architecture and the environment.

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March 31, 2014 | Project Entry & Details | Bogotá, Colombia

Project Entry 2014 for Latin America

Project entry 2014 Latin America – Breathing Envelope: Vertically-stacked convention …

The new Ágora Bogotá (Bogotá International Convention Center) in Colombia will be unique. The program is stacked vertically to minimize the building’s footprint and to correspondingly maximize the surface area of outdoor public spaces in the heart of the city. Illuminated and ventilated naturally through an actively responding and acoustically sealed enclosure, the building features high levels of flexibility without compromising its architectural quality. 

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Location

pin Bogotá, Colombia

Bogotá, Colombia

Videos

Holcim Awards Acknowledgement prizes 2014 for Latin America

Holcim Awards Acknowledgement prizes 2014 for Latin America

“Sustainability? Common sense and rationality” – Jens Richter

“Sustainability? Common sense and rationality” – Jens Richter