Chilean Facades: Consorcio + Concepción

A stunning new example of VIA (i think?) via Urban Greenery presents the The Consorcio Building in Santiago – with an amazing green wall system on significant portions of the facade – which recalls Ken Yeang’s Bioclimatic structures in this tropical climate.


:: images via Urban Greenery

Located in Santiago, Chile – the green walls act as a vital environmental mitigation strategy: “The Consorcio Building in Santiago is one of the most sustainable office buildings, with up to 48% less energy usage thanks to its green wall, which turns red in autumn.” An illustration of the shading microclimatic functions.


:: images via Urban Greenery

This interesting photo of the interstitial space between the facade and the outer vegetated screen – providing a cooling gap that allows for sun to be reflected, as well as for warm air to escape through the vertical channels instead of heating up the building.


:: image via Urban Greenery

Platforma Arquitectura offers some more imagery of the project – including the views from inside looking out (and follow the link for many more).


:: image via Platforma Arquitectura

I’m actually not sure what this image is trying to tell us for sure… i get the solar diagram, but the figure pushing on the facade is somewhat of a mystery.


:: image via Platforma Arquitectura

And there must be something good going on in Chile , as this project by Enrique Browne Arquitectos, which has been around for a while, has recently re-emerged on both Arch Daily and Inhabitat: “The office itself is composed of three elements. A vertical green wall constructed from locally-sourced wood shields the structure from the sun to the North, East, and west, and acts as a “double green skin” that insulates the interior. The structure’s south wall features a high-performance facade constructed from locally-sourced corrugated metal that helps to insulate the interior and render it highly energy efficient.”


:: image via Inhabitat

We used this image a few years ago as a precendent image for a project in Seattle (when I was at my former employer) and it’s good to see it again – as it is a stunning example of using a double facade system for cooling in hot climates. Some more pics and an illustration give a little more info to the story, including a glimpse at the plant list, which includes bougainvillea, jasmine, and plumbago.


:: image via Inhabitat

9 thoughts on “Chilean Facades: Consorcio + Concepción

  1. Chia pet building . You have got to be kidding. Living in or working in a building in which I have to peer out through yellowing vine leaves is good design? Vines on a wall- yes, over a window? Come on!

  2. Actually the design is much more ‘green washing’ than anything else! The Consorcio building in Santiago doesn’t even have the ‘greenfacade’ facing the sun (north)! And please don’t be naiv with your comments, this bldgs are not much more than fancy design, but in terms of sustainability and energy peroformance they are nothing special. Finally, please try to be more accurate with the information, Chile is not in the tropics and Santiago and Concepcion are not tropical climates, it is actually quite cold in winter and these buildings have big ammounts of energy trying to heat the interiors behind these glazed facades.

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