The project highlights the site’s exceptional location, which flows seamlessly into the future northern section of Barco Park and the Valldepera Stream. A building massing divided into two distinct sections reduces the scale of the development, incorporating the park’s green spaces between the buildings and ensuring natural light and views.

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The arrangement of the building volumetry provides continuity for the green spaces and allows the homes to be interwoven with the park. The curvature of the volumes adapts the buildings to the topography and the plot boundaries, enhancing the integration between the buildings and green systems, in line with the site planning strategies of the surrounding buildings. The staggered layout of the buildings, together with their curvature, ensures good sunlight conditions and views for the homes and outdoor spaces, opening up the volumes towards the park.

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A re-naturalisation of the surroundings is proposed as a link between the buildings and the municipality’s green infrastructure. The site is landscaped with native deciduous vegetation to provide protection from solar radiation in summer and reduce the heat island effect.

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100% of the dwellings are dual-aspect and feature natural cross-ventilation, good levels of sunlight (south/south-east orientation) and high-quality views to the outside. Two habitable façades define the unit types, as a direct response to the site conditions and climatic requirements.

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The interior of the building type is organised into four spaces of equal size arranged around a central pillar, creating a flexible, inclusive, continuous and spacious area that can be adapted to different generational profiles. The kitchens occupy a central position to highlight domestic tasks and are connected to the living areas. There are multiple circulation routes within the home to ensure flexibility of use and adaptability.

 

A systematic dry construction method is proposed, using biospheric and decarbonised materials with low energy consumption associated with their production, to reduce the buildings’ ecological footprint. The horizontal and vertical perimeter structure of the dwellings is formed using CLT panels, with a thick rear façade acting as a stiffening box.

 

The proposal prioritises the use of the architecture’s own passive systems to achieve and exceed the specified energy targets (NZEB, CON 2030). In this regard, the two habitable façades act as a thermal buffer between the interior spaces and the exterior, combined with high insulation values and the minimisation of thermal bridges.

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TYPE             Housing

CLIENT         IMPSOL (Institut Metropolità de Promoció de Sòl i Gestió Patrimonial)

YEAR            2024 - Competition

AREA             5.490 m2

TEAM             Javier Gavín Balda (co-author)

                       César Jiménez Cerrada (co-author)

                       Siddartha Rodrigo Cluá (co-author)

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PRIZES         4th Prize Architectural competition