In the subtropical climate of Buenos Aires, the sun hits with particular strength during the summer months, which can add a large amount of heat to any interior space. In a dense office, interior heat is already high due to the density of people and appliances, and the main energy requirement is caused by air conditioning (in some buildings all year round), which is why the solar load needs to be avoided at all costs. A carefully sized balcony was added throughout the perimeter of the building to block the high solar angles in the floor below, and vertical protection was also added to block the lower angles early in the morning and late in the afternoon. The porosity was optimised by orientation to control the sun, glare and maintain adequate daylight levels. The presence of the balcony allows to better open the windows, foster natural ventilation as well as night cooling. The ceiling of all the levels is exposed so that the concrete of the structure provides enough thermal inertia to regulate indoor temperatures. All in all, the time that the building can function without the use of mechanical equipment was doubled whereas the energy required to cool it down was divided by 2.

"The project for the building for the new Ministry of Economy and Finance is a part of the re-localisation program of public dependencies of the city, as today they work in different branches that are scattered and disconnected. The project consists in the refurbishment and extension of the former Caseros prison, which perimeter is listed. The new building of 42.000m2 is mainly dedicated to offices with a total capacity of 4700 workstations. The new building recuperates two spatial situations that are present in the former prison. On the one hand, it preserves the building footprint of the old interior ring, preserving the perimeter 3m circulation that used to work as ambulatory between the cells and that allows to separate the nineteenth-century building from the contemporary one. On the other hand, the new office building is also a ring 15m deep that enables to create an urban scale large internal vegetated courtyard, that recuperates the memory of the cloister typology."
MDU

The climate of Buenos Aires is Temperate, Humid Subtropical (Cfa) in the category of Koppen Geiger, with the well-defined four seasons. Summers are hot and rainy, with a very high proportion of direct solar radiation, which creates an important need for solar control. During a large portion of the summer temperature is nice, which would allow to function only with solar protection and natural ventilation. The daily range is around 6-8ºC, which points to the use of thermal inertia and night cooling to optimise the summer performance, especially in an office building. Winters are mild, with temperatures rarely falling below 5ºC. The mild temperatures, generous sun, and large internal heat gains can drastically reduce the need for heating, allowing for the buildings to work passively during a large part of the winter. The climate calls for special attention of bioclimatic strategies as even if it offers great potential due to the strength of the sun, this can become a major constraint during summer as buildings can overheat very rapidly, and during winter, buildings can be needing heating unnecessarily. In 2050, temperature is expected to increase by at least 2.3ºC in summer.