VENTILATION, LIGHTING, AND ACCESSIBILITY IN A HISTORIC CONCRETE BUILDING

Biohabita! We are carrying out the renovation of the parish halls of the Church of Saint Pius X to bring them into compliance with accessibility regulations and to improve their ventilation and lighting conditions. The building is located in Barcelona.

An accessible route has been created to reach all areas of the parish halls, and a new emergency evacuation stair has also been opened.
A ventilation system has been installed in all rooms with enthalpy heat recovery to ensure appropriate indoor health and comfort conditions through air renewal that optimizes energy consumption.
Heat recovery makes it possible to preheat or pre-cool the outdoor air during the indoor air renewal process, recovering a high percentage of the energy used by the system. In short, the exhaust air transfers its thermal conditions to the incoming air, minimizing the need to condition it in order to ensure indoor thermal comfort.

The Saint Pius X religious complex, built between 1960 and 1963, is the work of Josep Soteras i Mauri. The structure combines reinforced concrete and exposed brick walls.
The main building is constructed with a ribbed concrete structure, with the arches set obliquely to the axis of the nave. The roof is formed by prefabricated triangular concrete panels that follow the curvature of the arches.
The concrete structure that forms the arches combines parts built in situ (the springing of the arches) and prefabricated elements (the rest of the arch section).
The parish halls included in the project occupy part of the central nave and an attached volume—also with a concrete structure—that forms the entrance porch. This construction process is consistent with the one developed by engineer Pier Luigi Nervi in the same period.
This structure represents a very high level of innovation and construction complexity for its time.

This project is being carried out in collaboration with the engineering firm ORDEIC.