 Mercator buildings' façade |
 Climate-control façade (inside)
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Mercator is a multiple-occupancy building for knowledge-intensive companies. Approximately one third of the floor area of the seven storey building is taken up by laboratories designed to be used by medical chemists. The remainder consists of office units available for rent. The design takes account of the requirement for maximum flexibility in leasing arrangements. Companies needing office space with associated laboratory activities can rent rooms of both types on the same floor. Because the laboratory units are stacked uniformly next to the office units, combined leases are easy to arrange.
The essential elements in the architecture of the building are clarity and transparency. The completely plain glass strengthens the architectonic character while technologically the newly developed energy-efficient climate-control façade contributes to the energy management of the whole building. In contrast to the abstract glass superstructure, the wood cladding applied to the façade of the ground floor makes it more involved with the park-like surroundings.
The Mercator is a composite façade consisting of an outer sheet of plain insulating glass extending from floor to ceiling and an inner sheet of metallized open-weave fabric as sunscreen. The air in the cavity so formed is extracted by means of a central mechanical ventilation system along with the warm return air from the office space. This particular climate-control façade acts as a very effective insulator. Still more energy is saved by using the incident heat produced by the sun and internal heat sources to provide energy for the heating system by the use of a heat exchanger. In the summer the radiant heat of the sun is blocked by the sunscreen. The air in the cavity is constantly extracted so that the heat of the sun has no opportunity to warm up the interior. Individually adjustable water-cooled convectors are installed under the false ceiling to enable the work space to be cooled.
The fabric does not block the view, and each 1.8 m wide strip can be rolled up electrically allowing individual regulation of the intensity of natural light and the extent of the view. The fabric also makes it possible to neutralise the effect of incident light on computer screens (the 'glare effect'). Financial considerations and the effect on the interior makes it extremely interesting to use woven material as the inner sheet instead of glass. Not only are the acoustic properties of woven material better than those of glass, but woven material requires much less maintenance. Moreover it appears that the perceived value and the comfort of the interior is increased by the use of fabric.
pdr/pv
