A community-focused masterplan spanning approximately 168 hectares and comprising hotels, residences, commercial areas, and community infrastructure. Set on an undeveloped peninsula in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro, surrounded by the Caribbean sea and a 45,000-acre natural reserve, CasiCielo contributes to Panama’s growing appeal as an eco-tourism and adventure destination.
The scheme has five development goals, all of which will have economic, social and environmental benefits for the local community. One of these goals, and the one XCO2 have been appointed to contribute towards, is to partner with research, construction and hospitality experts to showcase and teach sustainable development practices.
XCO2 carried out extensive environmental design guidance for the masterplan strategy, to ensure the development meets its inspirational objectives, and introduced a range of efficiency measures, designed to reduce the energy consumption of the development as a whole. The main site-wide strategies fall into the following categories: Master plan layout and appropriate building massing; shading strategies and glazing specification/ openings areas; ventilation strategies, both passive and active; efficient building fabric and appropriate materials; efficient building systems; and water efficiency measures, including solar thermal and rainwater collection.
