Mall Plaza El Castillo, Cartagena, Colombia

Cartagena is a port city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, with a tropical climate and average high temperature exceeding 310 C. This was a primary consideration in the planning phase of the city's new premium retail venue, the "Plaza El Castillo" shopping mall. The designers utilized sustainable architecture principles & placed strong emphasis on energetic efficiency - a requirement that had to be met by the roofing suppliers as well. Palram proposed a skylight solution based on Sunglaze panels incorporating the SolarSmart™ Technology. These sheets admit more natural daylight while reflecting outwards the Infrared radiation that carries and generates heat. Energy saving is promoted through considerable reduction of both illumination and air conditioning costs. The design called for a convex transparent canopy. This configuration is possible with Sunglaze by cold bending the panels at the construction site.