Case study - Parkland Tower

How does the climatic context influence the design of a contemporary office building?

A new addition to the skyline of Kinshasa, Parkland Tower is a unique office tower designed to accommodate “New Ways of Working” and conceived as a climate adaptive building. An innovative project that combines the wellbeing of its users with a positive impact on the environment. Besides offices, the Parkland Tower will offer a commercial gallery on the ground floor, a food corner, penthouse apartments with large outdoor areas.

Parkland Tower

Description

development of a commercial complex, office building and high quality penthouses

Responsible

Karol Gawlik

Location

Kinshasa

Client

Rawbank

Area

41.000 m²

Between road and river

The design process started with an intensive study of the site and the local conditions in which the project would function. Situated between the Boulevard 30 Juin and the Congo River, the Parkland Tower is enclosed by two important borders within the urban landscape of Kinshasa. The Boulevard 30 Juin is the main traffic axe that runs through the capital, connecting political institutions and office headquarters. The Congo River, on the other hand, connects the city to the the rest of the country and offers equal amount of water surface to the urban mineral surface.

“Where’s the sun?”, a design challenge to be reassessed

Insight

“Where’s the sun?”, a design challenge to be reassessed

Joost Declercq

Local climate

Kinshasa has a relatively constant temperature between 25°C and 30°C with a summer peak of 35°C. There is not much rain throughout the year, with exception of October, after the summer dryness. The wind generally comes from a south-west orientation with moderate speed.

The interior climate of the workplaces is defined by two parameters: temperature and air humidity. For a comfortable climate, between 22°C and 24°C and a humidity ratio between .004 and .012, we need to optimally adapt our design, seeing that only 69 hours in a year this climate naturally occurs in Kinshasa.

“Designing ambitious projects on the African continent is part of archipelago’s DNA and history. The Parkland Tower is a significant addition to the Kinshasa skyline with high environmental value.”

Karol Gawlik project architect

A dynamic workplace

The office tower is shaped following the orientation of its primary long facade at the northern and southern side. These are the sides with the least overheating throughout the year. The core and centralized techniques split the tower in two, with the northern part that is slightly higher and inclined towards the corner between Boulevard 30 Juin and Avenue du Port. The east and west facades have proportionally less glass and receive natural shading through extensive vegetation in front of the windows.

Daylight and outside views are essential for our well-being. However, glass facades, as we often see in office towers, can result in overheating. A system of horizontal and vertical shading filters sunlight so that the comfort period for the building, based on the outside climate, increases by 28.8%. In addition, we reduce the need for air-conditioning trough natural and mechanical ventilative cooling. The implementation of such ventilation systems expands the comfort period by 42%. In this way the building will need less technical installations and will maximally exploit renewable energy sources. Creating a pleasant and sustainable environment for working and living.

When sustainable development objectives and collaborative work practices inspire architecture