MediaTIC

Project summary

The MediaTIC building features a lattice structure that flows from the roof down the walls, diluting as it reaches the base. Its internal structure is made up of porticos in single plane trusses and double-height girder beams. The structure is energy efficient as a NET-certified building that almost achieves net zero and ranks as energy efficiency class A. It also won WAF’s World Building of the Year 2011.

Project details

The MediaTIC building was designed to resemble a large cuboid container covered by a lattice facade on the roof and walls. The interior structure dilutes that lattice framework as it approaches the ground and it disappears entirely at the base, which is the most-used public area.

It is made up of four large porticos, each separated by a 14 m gap, two of which are located in the facade levels with the other two on the inside. These porticos are only one storey high, with a single bay, but support a total of nine storeys and a free span measuring 35 m. The bars that make them up therefore take the form of single plane trusses, with 3.5 m-wide pillars intersecting with lateral footfall channels, while the girder beams span two storeys. This arrangement provides geometric strength and enabled the builders to save on materials.

Various slabs of composite decking hang from these porticos and are supported by joists which, in turn, hold up mixed beams, creating 14 m skylights.

Transversal stabilisation comes from the mesh forms included in the project to support the facades, which play a structural role and behave like light plates or trellises that, thanks to the geometry involved, can be supported by only light bars.