Talca Grand Casino and Hotel

by Rodrigo Duque + Rafael Hevia

©Guy Wenborne y Rodrigo Duque

©Guy Wenborne y Rodrigo Duque

Architects: Rodrigo Duque Motta y Rafael Hevia García-Huidobro
Collaborators: Cristóbal Martínez y Catalina Ventura
Owner: Gran Casino de Talca
Main Contractor: Inarco
Structural Engineering: Eduardo Valenzuela
Technical Inspection: José Tomás Vargas
Lighting Design: Ramón López y Matías López
Interiors: FVM Decoración y Diseño
GFA: 15.000 m2
Location: Avenida Circunvalación Oriente 1055, Talca, VII Región
Design Date: 2007
Construction Completion Date: 2008
Photographs : Guy Wenborne y Rodrigo Duque

The Grand Casino and Hotel of the city of Talca, in the VII Region of the country, had to overcome important determining factors for its design and development. First of all, the pre-defined layout of the different functional programs of the complex with its volumes, when summed up, formed a fragmented building. Second, its location in a commercial center on the city outskirts. And finally, the demands of thermal conditioning.

The commission was conditioned from the beginning by a previously defined layout of the different functional programs (casino, hotel, convention center, restaurants) that had to be respected, both in surface area and position in the plan as well as in its location in the different levels of the building.

This pre-layout of the program, upon which the operation license was granted, created an overlay of different types of buildings recognized by their volume and façade, which when summed up, formed a fragmented and dismembered complex.

The second important determining factor was its location, on the area of a commercial center in the outskirts of Talca. Although it allowed opening the project towards the distant surroundings to look at the mountains and the city, the immediate context was to be safeguarded against: the intersection of two high-traffic streets and the parking space of the commercial center.

The third relevant theme to consider was the thermal conditioning of the building. The 400 game machines in the casino and convention center zone, coupled with the high concentration of people, generated an immense amount of heat. Hence, it was fundamental to achieve efficiency in the air conditioning of the building.

In order to face these conditions, the following courses of action, which characterize the project were taken:
With the objective of transforming a simple interior distribution of programs into a project with specialization, order, and clear hierarchies, a series of interior spaces of various heights in the plan layout as well as in the cross-section was defined, around which the different programs were organized. As such, the hotel’s lobby and the building’s administrative offices were connected via a 3 story high space. In the same way, the casino on the 1st floor was connected with the convention center and exhibition zone on the 2nd and the rooftop garden of the hotel rooms, via a big central patio that cuts through the 3 levels. Finally, on the higher floors of the hotel, a triple-height space in the elevator lobby was defined, which articulates the 3 levels of hotel rooms and the spa, gymnasium and pool zone.

On the outside a second skin was designed to fulfil several purposes simultaneously. Volumetrically, it acts as a sort of clothing that brings unity and at the same time subtly reveals the different parts of the building allowing the flexibility to manage the constant changes required in the project’s development. Secondly, it presents the building as a big urban lamp portraying the casino’s image, avoiding the overlaying of neon billboards on the totally enclosed building. Furthermore, it acts as a ventilated façade, considerably reducing direct radiation and improving thermal control. Finally, this second skin defines the intermediate exterior spaces, creating a realm of ownership that manages to its advantage the relationship of the project with a difficult context. On the first floor this intermediate space, which is the main entrance and the two restaurant terraces, serves to separate the interior from the streets and the parking zone. On the second floor, the space has been converted into a terrace-garden that serves as a foyer for the convention center and the cultural hall. Finally, on the third floor, the space of the roof garden west of the hotel rooms is contained within the perimeter of the external skin, directing the views, as it hides the roof of the commercial center but allows for distant sightings of the city of Talca.

As for the thermal conditioning, besides the second skin, the casino spaces and the convention center were insulated by means of the roof gardens described earlier, and a great number of perimeter partitions with thermal insulation. Additionally, an air conditioning system with “free cooling” was considered, which stops mechanical cooling and injects outside air when the interior temperature is higher –a situation that is very common in this type of programs.