The Environmental Design of Working Spaces in Equatorial Highlands Zones: The Case of Bogotá

Abstract

Recent empirical investigations have indicated that the majority of occupants in office buildings would appreciate contact with the external environment, especially in cities where the climate is mild for part of the year. Supported by the possibilities of adaptive thermal models, the design of naturally ventilated buildings has been elaborated since the decade of 1990s. More communal areas rather than private ones are demanded due to the importance of social interaction and knowledge transfer among employees. In this context, this paper investigates the possibility of daylight and thermal comfort in naturally ventilated working environments, located in cities of mild climatic conditions, by redefining the parameters of a façade’s design and exploring coupling strategies with the outdoors. For this purpose, the city of Bogotá (Latitude 4°7′ N), in Colombia, a place with great potential for passive strategies, is taken as the geographic context of this research, which is supported by fieldwork with occupants of 37 office buildings and analytical work. The survey revealed that being close to a window is valued by the majority. Furthermore, 50% would like to have informal areas and outdoor spaces attached to their working environments. In additithe analytical studies showed how the combination of a set of environmental design strategies, including a schedule for coupling and decoupling of indoor spaces with the outdoors and a variation of occupancy density, made thermal comfort possible in free running working spaces in Bogotá.

Keywords

• working spaces
• daylight
• natural ventilation
• occupants
• analytical studies
• environmental design