In what is predicted to be the hottest fall on record, STRUKTR is excited to announce that New York and San Diego-based design firm, Studiohuerta, has unveiled their energy-passive building for Postgraduate Studies at the Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior (CETYS University) in Meixcali, Mexico. Using innovative approaches to old-world design methods, Studiohuerta combines technique and technology in their dynamically sustainable postgraduate center located in Mexicali, Mexico’s extremely arid climate.
The Center boasts an interior designed to efficiently circulate air from the outermost classrooms and offices through hallways, and into the large, inner-most public areas where, as the air becomes heated by surrounding energy, it is released out through solar chimneys. This pre-Industrial technique commonly found in Middle Eastern countries, is a passive way of circulating air in hot climates, and effectively reduces the need for conventional, mechanized cooling systems. Though this practice is still common in pre-Industrial countries, in Mexico, solar chimneys are rare. “Because Mexico is a new country in many ways, it's predominantly industrial. Energy-passive design is still rare," says Gabriel Huerta, Owner and Principal of Studiohuerta. Huerta himself became familiar with solar chimney technology during his studies in Environmental Design at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, a program directed by esteemed environmental design expert, Javier Neila.
