LABORATORIES NEAR TO A LEMON ORCHARD IN ORIHUELA

The building is located inside the Campus de los Desamparados in Orihuela, next to a lemon orchard. There, the conditions of light, lack of rain and heat are really extreme, exceeding 40º C during the summer months.

Laboratories and departments are grouped by a structure of interspersed rings, which contain a system of semi-outdoor courtyards connected with each other at different levels.

These rings are composed of three white plastic strips: the bottom one, in contact with the ground, is semi-transparent and porous, and lets you view the outside when you are sitting; the middle strip, very opaque and technical, leads the large volume of required facilities inside; and the last one, very diffuse, regulates the atmosphere and creates shadows, as a big cloud.

The semi-open courtyards become important meeting spaces, while allowing access to labs. In its technified semi-interior, conditions of light, humidity and temperature are locally modified by multiple infra-red and humidifiers.

Project:
Research Facilities in UMH University, Orihuela.
Open Competition, won in 2004.
Architects: SUBARQUITECTURA + J.M. Torres Nadal.
Completed in June 2008.

Adress:
CAMPUS ORIHUELA – DESAMPARADOS
Carretera de Beniel, km 3.2 03312 Orihuela, Alicante. Spain

Built Area: 1954 m2

Client: UMH (Universidad Miguel Hernández)

Photos: Juan de la Cruz Megías