New design for sustainable Enel Primary Substation

New design for sustainable Enel Primary Substation now is over!

Enel Global Infrastructure Networks is looking for a new design and architectural concept for the construction of a new and innovative sustainable building system dedicated to primary substations.

About Competition

Enel Global Infrastructure & Networks is looking for a new design and architectural concept for the construction of a new and innovative sustainable building system dedicated to primary substations. The new sustainable Enel Primary Substation must have innovative features in terms of design, materials and construction, incorporating principles of sustainability within a circular design approach; the substation must fully integrate in and garner the acceptance of the environmental and social contexts it is installed in.

The new design must allow the observance of the technical and safety regulations currently complied with as well as maintaining the full functionality of the substation and equipment installed inside.

Overview
Primary substations are infrastructures dedicated to the interconnection between high voltage and medium voltage in the electrical system and can be built in different environmental contexts whenever energy demand makes a primary substation needed. Therefore, primary substation can be inserted in urban contexts, both in the city center or peripheral quarters, or in rural environments belonging to different natural contexts (countryside, seaside, mountains etc.). Integration of such an industrial facility in different environments can be critical and requires reconciling sustainability and technical aspects.

The challenge
The purpose of this challenge is the creation of new sustainable architectural concepts dedicated to PRIMARY SUBSTATIONS. The primary goal of the challenge is the creation of a sustainable architectonic modular system that allows a high degree of versatility and replicability, a necessary requirement to adapt the buildings and architectural elements to the different contexts of use present in the territory. This system must be able to house all the required electrical equipment of the Primary Substations and at the same time shall improve the visual, functional and spatial impact of these installations and their surrounding areas.

Given the great variety of environments wherein the primary substations will be installed, the challenge provides four case-study sites to adopt as contexts of use for the development of the proposed solutions:

➜ urban contexts (large municipalities);
➜ semi-urban (small municipalities) or peripheral contexts;
➜ rural contexts, inland;
➜ rural contexts, coastal.

The competitors are asked to design architectural solutions for the visual impact of the technical area of the primary substation and, at the same time, to rethink the relation between the primary substation and the context of use, with the aim of avoiding or minimizing its environmental and social impact. The proposals should reimagine the primary substations as a whole, with a design consistent throughout all its components. The new design should be centered on the following key aspects:

1. Project modularity and replicability
2. Visual and sustainability impact
3. Communication
4. Sustainable materials and renewable energy
5. Innovative initiatives for Development Areas
6. E-mobility promotion
7. Social inclusion
8. Lighting

The jury that will evaluate the proposal will include representatives of EGI&N and a number of high-level personalities from universities, institutions and the design and architecture field.

Eligibility

This Challenge is reserved to engineers, architects, designers, startups, scaleups and SMEs, industrials incorporated in any country, acting both as natural and/or legal persons.