Banco Ciudad's new headquarters will be a sustainable, distinctive addition to Parque Patricios.

Banco Ciudad's new headquarters will be a sustainable, distinctive addition to the Parque Patricios barrio.

The future just got a little brighter and greener for Banco de la Ciudad, but the green has more to do with architecture than quarterly profits.

The Buenos Aires-based bank has been planning a corporate headquarters relocation to the resurgent Parque Patricios neighborhood for some time. After careful evaluation of the 15 proposals by a prestigious panel of local architects, the Bank finally announced the winner of the design contest: London-based Foster + Partners.

David Summerfield, one of the firm’s design directors, described the importance of the project and the victory: “The project is Foster + Partners first office development in Argentina and we are looking forward to further developing our designs for Banco Ciudad de Buenos Aires. The plans will create a sustainable, distinctive headquarters for the bank, while drawing on the site’s industrial past to reinforce the unique character of the neighborhood.

The new building will incorporate a variety of sustainable features and should achieve LEED Silver accreditation upon completion. Banco Ciudad president Federico Sturzenegger says the new building will allow his company to streamline operations and reduce both risks and costs associated with operations currently spread out across eight facilities.

The announcement is another positive step for the redevelopment of Parque Patricios where the City of Buenos Aires is investing in a Tech District as well as extending the H Line of the Subte. Neighborhood residents should also benefit culturally considering Banco Ciudad’s commitment to the arts and support for annual events like arteBA.

This 5-star boutique hotel will be the first in Argentina built to LEED certification standards.

This 5-star boutique hotel will be the first in Argentina built to LEED certification standards.

While yesterday’s post focused on a stalled Puerto Madero transaction, today we look at one that is already beyond the drawing board and poised to raise the bar of corporate sustainability in the Buenos Aires lodging arena.

Scheduled to open in 2011, the Hotel Own Puerto Madero promises to be the first hotel in Argentina built to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards, the benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.

According to USGBC, 40 U.S. hotels are currently certified “green” with another 900 currently working toward certification. Swiss Finance & Property endeavors to build the Hotel Own to LEED standards which mandate varying degrees of water conservation, energy conservation, local material use, recycled material use, natural lighting and other green features.

SF&P describes the Own as “a boutique hotel with 5-star service, (featuring) 26 rooms, 4 of which are suites, full guest amenities such as pool, gym, roof top terrace and a restaurant and bar.” And the developer’s long term goal: “Make this new hotel the destination of choice for environmentally conscious tourists and businessmen alike.”

Only time will tell if other boutique and major chains follow SF&P’s green lead in Argentina: an important first step in a market where sustainability doesn’t usually factor into the equation when new buildings are in the planning stage. The additional costs and effort on the front-end should be more than offset upon the hotel’s completion given the number of international tourists who travel to Buenos Aires from countries where companies have already embraced sustainability initiatives.

 

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