A former Portuguese colony, Angola has been an independent country since the 1970’s. The capital, Luanda, has a climate characterised by high temperatures, low temperature range, high humidity and a frequent sea breeze. It also boasts a rich history of modernist projects that were able to find brilliant solutions to face the climate and limited building options.
Within the current real estate boom, in a context where there are no limitations regarding construction materials (everything is imported), the expectations of investors and future users are difficult to reconcile with the romantic idea of “modern tropical design”. The investors, because they have a notion of modernity that involves "sheen" and "glass" and the users, because they won’t accept, for instance, views obstructed by a fixed "brise - soleil".
Despite their international image, the Sky Residence II and Sky Business buildings were designed specifically for that location, and sought to satisfy the particular climate conditions and the expectations of the client and future users.
The former, a residential building, presents an ingenious combination of one- and two-storey flats and a highly defined perimeter, characteristics that enable all apartments to have natural cross-ventilation, and 80% of them to have a view of the bay.
The latter, for offices, is characterised by the dematerialisation of the initial volume into two bodies of different widths and heights, and a facade designed to take advantage of the angle of sunlight to create shade on the glass panes throughout virtually the entire day.
Sky Residence II and Sky Business
Location
Luanda, Angola
Client
ESCOM
Date
2007 – 2014
Architects
Tomás Salgado, Jorge Estriga, João Almeida, Cristina Picoto and Luís Torgal
3D Images
Telmo Antunes
Build Area
76.122 m2
Photographs
Fernando Guerra / FG + SG
