Sustainable Signal for Swimming

SCHOTT North America

SCHOTT solutions no. 1/2011 > Solar Architecture

The top row of windows in the outdoor swimming pool that includes both an olympic and a children‘s pool features solar elements made of glass.
Photo: SCHOTT/Pradip J. Phanse

The modern swimming pool Mendizorroza in Vitoria, Spain, is designed to be both energy-efficient and climate-friendly – thanks to architectural coherency and semi-transparent solar modules from SCHOTT.

Alberto Zuñiga

The Mendizorroza indoor swimming pool located in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the capital city of the Spanish Basque country, is made entirely of glass and thus appears to float on top of its concrete base. Nevertheless, architectural weightlessness is not the only unique characteristic of this striking building, whose clear shell is carried by a construction that contains 1,000 tons of galvanized steel. In erecting one of its most important sports facilities, the municipal building owner also wanted to send a clear message on sustainability. After all, Vitoria ranks as one of Spain’s pioneers in this area and won the European Green Capital Award 2012. ”Our goal was to integrate all of the solutions into one rational design that would significantly lower the power consumption of the sports complex,” explains Fernando Bajo Martínez de Murguía, the Spanish architect, planner and site manager from Vitoria.

56 semitransparente ASI® Thru Photovoltaikmodule sind in die gläserne Fassade architektonisch perfekt integriert. Photo: SCHOTT/Pradip J. Phanse

And this has been achieved in an impressive manner. With a total of 9,702 square meters of floor space, the indoor swimming pool houses an Olympic, as well as a children’s swimming pool, in addition to several other facilities for competitive and recreational sports that are spread across various floors. The planners also came up with something special with respect to climate control. The building shell is double-glazed and has an internal walk-in area that serves as a thermal air cushion.

The longest façade of the building faces south. The solar radiation that is just perfect here is supported by a large outdoor swimming pool in front of the hall, whose reflective water surface casts even more light onto the façade.

To utilize the concentrated solar energy that is generated inside this area in an environmentally friendly manner, the decision was made to purchase a solar power solution from SCHOTT. 56 semi-transparent ASI® Thru photovoltaic modules have been integrated into the glassy southern façade just perfectly from an architectural point of view. Manufactured from amorphous silicon on the basis of so-called thin-film technology, these solar elements made of glass deliver extremely high output, even despite higher temperatures. The modules thus generate an estimated annual power output of 6,450 kilowatt hours (kWh). In terms of the Spanish energy mix, this means a reduction in emissions of roughly three tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). In addition, the semi-transparent modules also offer protection from the sun and thus help prevent the halls from overheating, in addition to conserving the energy needed for refrigeration and lighting.

The glassy solar elements fit into the geometric square structure of the façade extremely well. And they also support the clear design of this glass palace with its nifty transition to the sky above it and the solarium terrace behind it. ”These types of design possibilities simply couldn’t be achieved with most of the other standard bio-climatic solutions,” says Fernando Bajo Martínez de Murguía.

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