WOHA

Live in Harmony with the Natural Environment
With a total of 204 apartments on 20 levels, WOHA is designed with the concept of creating a community in harmony with its natural environment, promoting well-being to its users through a conscious way of life. The architectural program consists of a basement with 2 levels of parking, green amenities, outdoor areas and 19 levels of apartments. In addition to a covered area for power generation use.

Design Premises
The Design Concept is based mainly on 3 guiding principles:

1.- Efficient and functional design.
2.- All units must enjoy the privileged view of the Caribbean Sea.
3.- It must focus on sustainability and energy savings, through a passive bioclimatic design.

Efficient and Accessible Design, through High Functionality
The concept is based on creating a module that resolves the ideal layout of a 100m2 home, in the most efficient way possible, all within a 7.7m wide x 11m long rectangle. The main living spaces, the dining room, living room and master bedroom, are directed towards the predominant view of the sea. The second bedroom and the kitchen overlook the city.

This module is designed to have cross ventilation. This is achieved by reproducing the module in a single bay, taking advantage the airflow. The design of this module is meticulously resolved in such a way that it avoids having corridors and residual circulation spaces. The unit is accessed directly from the elevator, which also avoids having unnecessary common corridors between units, with emergency exits and continuous service with lift truck.

All units must have a view of the sea
Once the module was resolved with the highest efficiency, the next design premise was that 100% of the units should benefit from the view that the site has.

Sustainable Approach

Climate Analysis

The climate of the region is warm and sub-humid, with abundant rainfall in summer and lower rainfall in winter. The average annual temperature ranges between 28ºC and 32ºC during the summer and from 26ºC to 27ºC during the winter.

The following graph shows the temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, solar incidence and cloudiness. This graph helps us understand the climatic behavior during the year, allowing us to develop bioclimatic strategies to achieve architectural comfort.

Bio-Environmental Diagram

In the following diagram of bio-environmental comfort, it is observed that the climate is located in the pink area throughout the year. This indicates that the strategy to follow to achieve thermal comfort in the architectural space should be: Cross Ventilation and Sun Protection.

Comfort Percentage Diagram

In the previous diagram, the percentage of comfort represented throughout the year with the selected bioclimatic strategy is observed. We can say that cross ventilation is less efficient in summer, so artificial ventilation techniques are recommended during that season.
The world is changing and society is becoming more aware. Today we are more concerned with the environment and the legacy that we will pass on to the next generation. We are more careful with what we consume and we are trying to be more careful with our habits, living and growing in harmony with the environment, leaving behind excessive consumption.

WOHA is conceived through the idea of ​​generating a change in the way we live, promoting:

1.- The reduction of energy consumption
2.- Recycling of waste for new uses
3.- Reuse and resource efficiency