Naturally cooled office building in Casablanca, Morocco

A new Bosch headquarters has been built in Casablanca, incorporating various measures designed to reduce energy demand during construction and operation. The extraordinary features of this building start with its construction material: The façades consist of clay that was extracted from the excavation of the basement and recycled by applying two traditional Moroccan techniques. This approach not only improved the thermal properties of the building, it also enabled the production of the material close to the construction site.

The clay façades were combined with selected raw and finished materials that are highly capable of heat absorption. This had a powerful effect: With the exception of the server room, this is the first building of its kind in Morocco that can go without air conditioning 90 percent of the time. If the conditions are extreme, a cooling system with water circulation and radiant ceiling panels comes into play. This significantly reduces the energy requirement of the building with its four floors and two basements. In addition, the riad – to use an architectural term from Andalusia – is refreshed by water evaporating from a decorative pool. An automatic opening and closing system for windows ensures comfortable temperatures in the rooms while reducing energy consumption as much as possible. This system can also be used to cool the spaces at night. Daylight sensors regulate the lighting levels in each room according to the intensity of the natural light.

The assessment by the Morocco Green Building Council: