THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ARCHITECT of THE PAST HALF-CENTURY DRAWS WITH UNFLAGGING ENERGY. LIFE IS A SERIES OF STROKES, AND HIS LATEST CANVAS, A BUILDING THAT ONCE PRODUCED FOSSIL FUEL, CONVERTED INTO A BENCHMARK FOR GREEN ARCHITECTURE. Norman Fosterfounder and executive chairman of foster + partners “Sustainability is compatible with high quality of life” Can architecture have a transforming effect on the urban realm? Yes – without doubt. However, the infra-structure of a city is even more important that the architecture of the individual build-ings. It is the public spaces, boulevards, pla-zas, parks, bridges, and subway systems. Collectively this is the urban glue that binds the buildings together and determines the DNA – the identity of a city. Ombú, with its generous patio and green gardens, delib-erately blurs the edges between the pub-lic and private domains – engaging socially with the neighborhoods of which it is a part. How can the original spirit, with which the Architect conceived it more than a century ago, be preserved and integrated with the avant-garde? The ultimately sustainable building can be recycled for new uses rather than demol-ishing and building a new one. There is a good narrative behind Ombú as a transfor-mation of a former factory for the produc-tion of fossil fuelled gas into the greenest of buildings. The essence of the historic ar-chitecture – its spirit – has been retained thought sensitive restoration of the original structure and fabric. It seems that most companies seek similar qualities in their workspaces: natural ventilation, natural light, to integrate with nature... It was some time ago when I suggested that “sustainability was about survival not fashion” I also believe that this is compati-ble with a high quality of life. Working with nature to encourage fresh air, sun light, greenery and views is an approach that I have pioneered with colleagues over many decades. The pandemic has magnified such trends and these kinds of buildings are likely to become mainstream rather than a fringe encouraged by enlightened patrons. Ombú is the embodiment of such tenden-cies. How have climate change and the pandemic affected architecture? As outlined in the previous question the pandemic has exaggerated trends that were already manifest. The 2015 Paris Agreement sought to limit the rise in global temperatures by more than 2˚C, which was subsequently revised to 1.5˚C. The con-struction industry is responsible for more than 40% of global carbon emission and as architects we need to influence those who commission buildings and other stake-holders to help combat climate change. We worked closely with ACCIONA – who were sympathetic – to ensure that the de-signs for Ombú were compliant with the aims of the Paris Agreement. The project was recently presented as a case study during COP26 in Glasgow to illustrate the approach to this challenge: the continuous monitoring of the project’s carbon footprint has informed the design process and influ-enced design decisions throughout, such as preserving more than 10,000 tonnes of the original brickwork, re-using the steel trusses, and installing a series of new office floors made of laminated timber within the existing space. These moves have helped to achieve a 35% lower operational car-bon emission than other baseline projects. When contextualised in terms of planets the result was approximately equal to one. This means Ombú’s carbon emissions will be absorbed by the capacity of the earth. Ombú is made of large windows, wood and stone, basically the same elements with which cathedrals were erected in the 12th century... Industrial warehouses were in many ways the modern cathedrals of the era after the Industrial Revolution. In essence, they faced technical design challenges that led to solutions with many features in com-mon: large spans, the importance of bring-ing daylight into the space and a robust structure. In addition, they were often built with materials that could be sourced locally. In the case of Ombú, the solid stone foot-ings, the heavy load-bearing brick walls, generous arched openings to allow natural light, and lightweight timber soffit to create a pitched roof were aligned with the indus-trial purpose of the building. I have always believed that to look towards the future you must first look to the past. © Frederic Aranda