Sustainability • CEIM

Another compulsory subject in our architecture programmes, in line with the philosophy of the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture, is sustainability. This subject blends environmental commitment and links between universities and companies, bringing together students and companies from different sustainability sectors supported by the CEIM (Chair in Industrial Construction and the Environment).

With support from the CEIM, the School helps to provide a cross-disciplinary approach and knowledge transfer to its studies. The cross-disciplinary approach seeks to involve representatives from stakeholders in the construction sector. Knowledge transfer is achieved through interaction between the university and manufacturing, engineering and architectural companies, as well as between the different companies themselves. The subjects of Sustainability I and II cover the concepts of energy efficiency, user comfort and the environmental impact of construction.

ROCKWOOL renews its agreement with UIC Barcelona’s CEIM Chair for the eighth year running

The agreement renews the cooperation between the company and the university to develop systems to improve building sustainability.

UIC Barcelona is committed to increasing its social impact by creating university-business chairs that guarantee knowledge transfer to society. This type of agreement is important in order to facilitate exchanges between companies and universities, “an unresolved matter in Spain if we compare ourselves with other countries in Europe”, said Pedro Luis Fernández-Cano, director of ROCKWOOL for Spain and Portugal.

The chair aims to encourage cooperation in the scientific and technological sphere in order to develop new building systems that improve sustainability and respect the environment in refurbishment works and new buildings. The UIC Barcelona School of Architecture reaffirms its commitment to designing new uses for porous concrete

For the third year running, the School has renewed its agreement with the CEMEX Research and Development Centre in Switzerland.

The cooperation agreement involves designing the course “Climate Concrete 3.0”, for architecture students. Between October and February, the students will attempt to demonstrate the enormous potential of porous concrete for improving the energy performance and air quality of buildings. Students will be required to develop a specific formula for concrete and design an improved construction system for the building envelope. They will then develop a full-scale prototype of the proposed system so that laboratory tests can be carried out and the behaviour of the material can be validated. At the end of the subject, a group of students will be chosen to go to Switzerland to take part in a six-day workshop run by CEMEX’s research group in the Alpine country. The agreement was signed within the framework of the Chair in Industrial Construction and the Environment (CEIM) at the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture. The chair is sponsored by Pich-Architects and Rockwool Peninsular.

2019 CEIM Awards

The awards ceremony was held as part of the event organised to launch the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture’s exhibition of Final Degree Projects.

Jordi Costa received first prize for ‘Barcelona Fashion Foundation: A Textile Industry Colony for Creative, Economic and Cultural Production’, in which he explored new ways of using the old Ca l’Illa textile factory. According to the jury, “this project advocates for the recovery of a lost textile industry through a bioclimatic approach in which recycled materials and air quality drive sustainability in the renovation of buildings”.

Nieves Blakstad took home second prize for her work ‘To the Rescue! A Space for Social and Occupational Integration to Combat Oblivion’, a project that seeks to reconvert old industrial locations into social and occupational centres for refugees. According to the student, the project “explores the construction of new social housing by renovating old factories and turning them into homes and workshops, community areas, outdoor areas... In short, flats committed to society”.

This year, the jury was made up of lecturers Antoni Solanas and Mauro Manca; Anna Manyes, from the Technical and Development Department at ROCKWOOL Peninsular; Teresa Batlle, architect and director of the studio Pich-Aguilera Architects; and Ignasi Pérez, architect and executive director of the WITS Institute, who was invited to be this year’s special guest.