work in progress_Belgium Embassy

First passive building in Africa, the passive standard criteria had to be adapted to Kinshasa’s tropical humid climate. Reaching the passive standard is achieved on the basis of insulation, which in the case limits the heat transfer from the exterior to interior. The high-efficiency thermal recovery ventilation system enables the cooling down of the air flow coming in and to dehumidify it, the air tightness of the building reinforcing the actions of these devices. The proposed building type is that of the “massive construction”. Similarly, the air tightness is achieved by the ceiling and the treatment of the connections with the envelope (through special bands serving this purpose).
The project also respects the « BREEAM » criteria. We used this environmental certificate, which is the most internationally used to assess the sustainable construction qualities of a building, as a guiding principle from the design outset in all our architectural, constructive and technical choices. This enabled us to achieve the “Excellent” standard for all the objectives and choices implemented in the project.