Bilbao advances in the urban regeneration of Zorrotzaurre and work on the island progress at a steady pace. As a clear example of this, the Bilbao City Council has just finished the urbanisation work on the square that leads to the Beta 1 and Beta 2 buildings in Ribera de Zorrotzaurre, a space that is considered to be part of the PED delimitation of the ATELIER project.
After eight months of work, the urbanisation of the square has been concluded with the objective of creating spaces for living and socialising next to these two municipal buildings, which house the educational projects of Digipen University (Beta 1) and Bilbao As Fabrik – University of Mondragón (Beta 2) respectively. In addition, it should be emphasised that the service networks have been adapted and the existing building has been equipped with a geothermal exchange system. This system required the execution of a considerable number of geothermal boreholes of 150 metres deep in the subsoil and the corresponding pipelines. In addition, Beta 2 building has recently been connected to the geothermal network via a water-to-water heat pump. First data from this connection are already being monitored and will be particularly valuable for the ATELIER project.
To sum up, this action underlines Bilbao City Council’s commitment to the urban regeneration of Zorrotzaurre and to geothermal energy on the island in order to achieve the zero emissions objective in Bilbao by 2050. In addition, geothermal energy provides a series of advantages over other options, such as low levels of contamination, reduction of production costs, a greater autonomy for the user and much more.
Image Credits: Municipality of Bilbao