36-unit Public Social Housing
architect: DataAE
developer/owner: IBAVI - Institut Balear de l’Habitatge
location: Palma de mallorca
year: 2020
The project proposes a spatial organization combined with a construction approach that enables homes with very low energy consumption, a high-quality living experience, and a design integrated into a landscape with architectural value. The building, comprising 35 homes, is structured around two cores with access via a walkway through a naturalized interior courtyard. This design allows all homes to benefit from significant cross-ventilation (taking advantage of the “embat” winds). Combined with the dual gallery system (front and rear), solar control, and internal thermal inertia, this achieves very low energy demand and a high level of comfort. In terms of the surroundings, the building integrates into the landscape through the use of masonry and the same façade material—marés stone—as the surrounding structures of the historic industrial complex of Can Ribas. The ground floor is elevated above street level to enhance privacy for the ground-floor homes and pedestrians while allowing for natural ventilation of the parking area. Access to the building is through the interior courtyard, with a pedestrian entrance on the south side and both vehicle and pedestrian access on the north side. The sequence of walls is primarily oriented east-west, optimizing solar gains evenly across the building. The walls are spaced approximately 3 meters apart, and with the help of transverse walls, a grid of undifferentiated rooms is created, providing good living conditions. At the same time, the project minimizes circulation spaces and uses a uniform room typology that enhances interior flexibility, even allowing the segregation of rooms with independent access from the walkway.
photographer: Adrià Goula
drawings: DataAE