Solvia Innova Shortlisted Competition
Awarded for the best Unbuilt Project in 2016 by the Ajac X Awards
A project with Cierto Estudio
How can an apparently rigid and static structure become a versatile and changeable artifact? Nowadays dwellings should be able to change in an easy and reversible way according to the cycle of life of the inhabitants. Our proposal regards not only long-term flexibility “ What if we have children and we need more rooms?” but also immediate “It used to be a studio, now it’s a bedroom, tomorrow, who knows?”
With this purpose, few fixed elements are defined in order to organize a series of ambiguous rooms without a pre-specified program. The tenants can chose “a la carte” the number of rooms and have the possibility to add or segregate them, changing the limits of the house depending to their needs. This fact is possible because of strategic access areas located towards different rooms. When the house grow, several accesses are created, connecting rooms through this intermediate space.
All the rooms have good lightning and natural ventilation, due to the wide perimeter of the building, so that they all can hold any program wished. The interior perimeter of the building, directly connected to the access spaces, concentrate the technical program, liberating the rooms. Kitchen and bathroom units can be changed of place easily due to different installation points that equip the perimeter.
The building has two different faces. In the exterior, a continuous façade seeks the integration with Poblenou neighborhood. In the interior of the block, the building sets back looking for light and natural ventilation, extending the courtyard to the heart of the plot. This secondary façade integrates a system of vertical circulation and corridors that connect the dwellings with different collective spaces: garden, terrace, and rooftop.
Wood is the principle construction material due to its high structural capacity, its sustainability and comfort, and its dry and simple construction that enables a fast and simple assembly and dismantling. The façade has a high acoustic, thermal, and hygroscopic insulation that will reduce remarkably the future energy consumption providing great advantages to the economy of the inhabitants.
