First BREEAM Project Certified in Spain
Centro Comercial Factory La Coruña, Spain, achieves BREEAM Good
The Central Comercial Factory in La Coruña, Spain, has achieved a Good rating under BREEAM Europe Retail 2008.
The development is located in the municipality of Culleredo in Galicia, northern Spain, and has a gross lettable floor area of 16,911.61m2. The site is being developed by Neinver La Toja SLU and is situated on a former factory site.
The retail centre is a standalone building which comprises sales areas, restaurants and common areas including a commercial corridor (mall). There is also a management office and plant rooms, and over- and underground parking.
This is the first BREEAM project to have been certified in Spain, and the developer, Neinver, reports that BREEAM suits the project well because there is an approved country reference sheet for Spain which facilitates the compliance of each credit.
Antonio Sánchez, Neinver's Corporate Technical Manager, said that BREEAM improves the image and environmental performance of the building: "The building maintenance costs will be reduced as a consequence of lower power consumption. The quality of the environment that final users perceive inside the building will be significantly improved with respect to buildings of the same type in which no BREEAM measures are in place. The fact that BREEAM is a European certification makes it easier to manage and more interesting for companies working in this area."
Carol Atkinson, Chief Executive of BRE Global, said: ‘We congratulate the developers, Neinver, and the rest of the team. This is another good example of BREEAM's application to retail and commercial developments throughout Europe, and shows how companies are realising the benefits that BREEAM certification can bring."
The report scored particularly well in Waste (85.71%), Management (72.73%) and Water (66.67%).
Some key features of the development which helped towards its BREEAM rating include:
- Minimisation of the environmental impact associated with construction.
- Daylighting provision.
- Carefully designed office space to optimise occupants' health and wellbeing.
- External lighting meeting energy and pollution criteria.
- Public transport systems chosen for energy efficiency.
- Reduction of demand for potable water.
- Greywater recycling system.
- Selection of materials for major building elements with low environmental impact.
- Use of previously developed industrial site.
In addition, project location, orientation, shape and dimensions were carefully considered. The building is rectangular and has a perimeter skylight providing natural lighting to the mall area which is located in the external perimeter of the building. Furthermore, glare, lighting and heating/cooling controls were incorporated into the design, and the lift and escalators are optimised to reduce energy consumption.
Outline information:
- Centro Comercial Factory La Coruña, Culleredo 15189, La Coruña, Spain was assessed under BREEAM Europe Retail 2008
- BREEAM Ref: A-BIB-ARA01-1
- Assessor organisation: Ove Arup and Partners SAU
- Assessor: Almudena Rodero Alonso
- Client/Developer: Neinver La Toja SLU
- Score: 50.90%, BREEAM Good
- Architect/Design Team: Grupo TAU La Coruña and PROYECTA, Oliva Iluminacion
