The Austrian architect Dietmar Eberle, founder of the Baumschlager Eberle Architekten studio, explained on Thursday, 29 February in Barcelona that the key to their 2226 buildings is that “we have exchanged hardware, construction technology, with software, digital technology”. He predicted that this change of perspective would mark the future of architecture.

On Thursday Eberle participated in the third conference of the Foros series on architecture and urbanism, organised by the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC Barcelona). Together with Eberle, Hugo Herrera, partner and head of the design department at the firm, delved into this architectural approach.

Ignacio Fernández Solla, director of Planning & Advisory at Arup engineering firm, an international project consultancy that integrates the latest technology for efficient and sustainable buildings also spoke during the session.

Juan Trias de BES, architect and lecturer at UIC Barcelona, presented the conference. “In this forum we are going to talk about innovation,” he said. “We are immersed in a moment of transformation and architecture is facing new challenges. Today’s speakers are professionals who offer answers to these challenges because they are able to ask the right questions,” he said.

Buildings 2226: constant temperature without heating or air conditioning

The buildings built or renovated with the 2226 system of the Baumschlager Eberle Architekten studio maintain an interior temperature between 22 and 26ºC without heating or air conditioning. These buildings integrate sensors and software that regulate indoor conditions.

Dietmar Eberle explained that the starting point for developing the 2226 system is “the understanding of how climate works and the factors that determine comfort within a building: temperature, carbon dioxide, air humidity, acoustics and lighting.”

The system developed by the Austrian studio over 20 years combines the characteristics of geometry, physics and thermal mass of the building with the use of digital technology to achieve thermal stability and comfort for users.

The first building 2226 was built in 2013 and its construction was financed by the same studio. “We knew it had to work, so we took the risk of building it,” Eberle explained. “We have been collecting data on this building for over 10 years; it must be the most well-documented building in the world,” he said.

Hugo Herrera stressed the importance of basing architectural decisions on data and calculations. “Just using wood or including green areas doesn’t make a building sustainable. This only happens when sustainability is built into its conception, having measured and calculated all the variables in detail,” he said.

Herrera spoke about several projects carried out by Baumschlager Eberle Architekten and stressed the importance of architects also pursuing beauty in their work. He maintained that “we seek to make buildings with abstract aesthetic qualities, that are not associated with fashion; we believe that this is the way for a building to last over time.”

Ignacio Fernández Solla pointed out that “the approach of architecture in the second half of the 20th century in complex technology has not worked”. Accordingly, he spoke about examples of iconic buildings that have had to be completely renovated, costing as much as their original construction.

In contrast, he explained the principles on which the engineering consultancy Arup bases its projects: “improvement of people’s health, transitioning to the zero-carbon economy, circular economy, community resilience, creation of social value and respect for the limits of the planet.”