During the Interlift 2011 expo in Augsburg, Germany, in addition to displaying its environmentally sensitive and sustainable products, Orona Corp. announced the start of construction of its 21st-century corporate headquarters and R&D center in Hernani, Spain. Shortly after the event, Orona invited ELEVATOR WORLD to attend an on-site press conference, where the company announced and showed the concept and scope of what it said will be the first research and innovation center for sustainable and self-sufficient urban mobility. [...]
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Orona IDeO will include the following buildings and areas:
- Orona ZERO will be the main building and house corporate headquarters and Orona EIC. Its image is inspired by the symbol of the company’s brand, and the architecture provides a view of its activity. The building itself will be elevated.
- Orona Foundation will have its own building of a hybrid nature, where the teaching and uses of Mondragon University and ongoing training will come together with various shared services of industry and academia.
- The A3 building will be devoted to research and have laboratory facilities, which will work on the G3A project dedicated to energy-storage systems.
- The IDeO Gallery will be an energy laboratory with energy systems integrated with architecture, converging with storage systems and efficient consumption in buildings. A visitor’s pavilion and showroom will be installed in the square to display the energy management of buildings in real time.
- EcoBoulevard will be the lineal park that forms the backbone of the technological park’s expansion. This space will be an image and reference for the entire park. It will be characterized by its vegetation and landscape in the visiting areas, where pedestrians will have priority over vehicles. The EcoBoulevard will provide a view of the landscape, from where the Hernani observatory will be seen, and will also be the connecting route to the urban center. The interior of IDeO will be structured with a central axis, linking the existing roadway roundabout with the EcoBoulevard. The flow of people will pass through the Orona buildings, which will become the entrance to the square.
- IDeO Square will be formed inside the fusion spaces as an urban hall that will have a series of comfortable spaces where researchers, workers and students can share and participate in the objective of promoting relationships and the interchange of ideas. Likewise, the square will be an open space for citizens that, together with the EcoBoulevard, will become an urban technological park.
Directive guidelines of IDeO include:
- Zero-energy buildings: the buildings in IDeO will be self-sufficient, generating their own energy; they will have storage systems and efficient consumption.
- Adequate energy management will materialize through the energy service company that integrates the global engineering, installation, maintenance and business project.
- The IDeO complex will obtain its energy exclusively from renewable sources, and, therefore, the project itself will become an object for investigating new sustainable ways of efficient energy management.
- The latest urban mobility technologies, innovative elevation concepts, sources of renewable energy and intelligent energy management will be incorporated into the buildings. These technological developments will also be applied to the entire park, thereby converting it into an innovation reference.
- Architecture that adapts to the landscape: the complex will be an experimentation laboratory for energy management that will reflect the latest advances in bioclimatic investigation and be a reference in sustainable architecture. This will be illustrated by achieving internationally recognized environmental certifications, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® and Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method.
- A combination of the basic pillars of energy efficiency and sustainable design, accessibility and urban mobility, the complex will be powered by renewable energy sources. The lifts, escalators and moving walks used both inside and outside the complex, in addition to guaranteeing accessibility, will include the latest innovations in energy storage.
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