El Bosque Norte 123 Buildings

by Murtinho&Raby Architects

© Pedro Mutis Johnson

© Pedro Mutis Johnson

Architect: Pedro Murtinho , Ricardo Contreras A. (1946-2007), Santiago Raby P.Collaborator:   Architect Harken Jensen
Collaborator: Tomás Gallo, Felipe Ducci, Nancy Puebla
Location: Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
Structural Engineer:   Alfonso Larraín
Refurbishment Area: 13.400 sqm
Project Year: 2007
General Contractor: Ingevec
Photographs: Pedro Mutis Johnson

This building is located on a corner of El Bosque Avenue, within Las Condes Local Authority in Metropolitan Santiago, Chile. The neighbourhood has been increasingly the community’s office centre with several leading office buildings projects.

Within this urban context, and the specific NW orientation of the site, we met the challenge with a a simple and austere volume treatment of its building materials, mellowed by a special façade strategy, that uses vertical glass wall lining, -a bioclimatic strategy employed to isolate the inner spaces from UV rays-, and creating at the same time, a blurred effect on its boundaries, in the manner of an enchased jewel.

The building has 15 stories of open floor plan; completely built in concrete without any overlay or special colour treatment, intended to achieve a pure and honest clear volume where the focus of attention will be the vertical glass wall lining movement and the signalling access awning.

All the building materials are honestly expressed to convey an elegant formal language.

We identify two design attributes which create the final identity of the project:

1. The special vertical glass wall lining acting as an UV filter, contributes to isolate the inner space. This design strategy reduces air conditioning up to an average of near 30%.

These vertical glasses are placed against the concrete awning creating a vertical and horizontal rhythm, which identify the form of this office building.

2. The first two floors of the building have a commercial programme spanning