06/29/2017 – COMSA has strengthened its flagship buildings line of business. The company’s commitment to the transfer of its R&D activity, coupled with the implementation of technologies such as BIM (Building Information Modelling) in its construction processes, has been decisive in winning the contracts for the construction of a new office building in the 22@ district of Barcelona, the Administrative Campus of the Catalan Regional Government and the remodelling of the assembly hall of the Industrial School of the Catalan capital, among others.
Following the recent building of the emblematic headquarters of the Cuatrecasas law firm in the 22@ district of Barcelona, COMSA is undertaking the construction of a group of four office buildings for Barcelonesa de Inmuebles in the same neighbourhood of the city. More specifically, it will erect four towers on an area of nearly 36,000 square metres, three of which will have five storeys, while the fourth will have nine. All the blocks will have two common floors below ground, mainly intended for parking, and access to these will be via an exterior, landscaped square of 1,400 square metres.
The group of buildings will be constructed following sustainability criteria as it will incorporate more than 700 photovoltaic panels and an innovative hybrid air conditioning system based on geothermal energy, developed by the European Geotech R&D project, in which the technical area of COMSA has participated. It will also be connected to the distribution network of the 22@ district, thus reducing the energy consumption of the properties. For this reason, the project is expected to receive the LEED Platinum award for sustainable building certification (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design), a standard of international prestige created by the US Green Building Council.
Infrastructure with the BIM hallmark
In recent years, COMSA has implemented the BIM (Building Information Modelling) methodology in its infrastructure and engineering projects, a technology that allows the multidimensional representation of the building in order to optimise its management throughout the life cycle, facilitate decision-making and reduce costs. Among its most important contributions to the construction phase, the system establishes more precise measurements, reproduces the different phases of work, anticipates possible incidents and performs an energy analysis of the needs of the equipment. The methodology also facilitates the subsequent maintenance of the building and, when this is necessary, the rehabilitation of the structure, since all the necessary information is integrated into the system.
COMSA has recently been awarded the contract for the transformation of the assembly hall of the Barcelona Industrial School into a Conference Centre. The building, which will retain its original structure – considered one of the most valuable parts of the architectural ensemble – will feature a mobile roof remotely controlled by a mechanism to control the levels of natural light entering through the windows of the dome. A system of retractable stands will also be installed to achieve different arena formats depending on the specific uses. COMSA Industrial, the group’s engineering company, will be responsible for the electrical and air conditioning installations. For this project, a three-dimensional model of the existing space will be created, to which will be added both the construction phases and the possible improvements and alternatives to the initial project.
Render of the future Conference centre of the Barcelona Industrial SchoolThe total value of these contracts is more than 39 million euros.
As José Miarnau, President of Infrastructure and Engineering and CEO of COMSA Corporación explains, “Our extensive experience and know-how in buildings with high architectural complexity is now reinforced with the use of applied technology, such as BIM, in order to optimise the efficiency of projects and to offer to our customers real-time monitoring of their evolution. This approach, in line with our commitment to offering innovative advanced solutions, reinforces our position as one of the leading construction companies in this sector.”
Extensive experience in flagship buildings
COMSA has a diversified portfolio in building, including prestigious national and international projects, such as the Hotel W in Barcelona, the Museum of Memory in Santiago of Chile, the Cultural Centre of Lugano (Switzerland) and the Palau Sant Jordi in the Catalan capital. Meanwhile, COMSA Industrial, the group’s engineering company, has implemented the electrical and communications installations of the CERN headquarters in Prévessin (France) and Meyrin (Switzerland), the electrical installation and systems for the new Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market in Alicante and, more recently, the optimisation of the facilities of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL).