105 DWELLINGS, SANT BOI DE LLOBREGAT

Project

The volume proposed by the planning precludes an urban strategy and therefore the project begins with the definition of apartment type. The proposal strives to improve spatial conditions, comfort and versatility (number of rooms, sunlight, ventilation and connection with exterior spaces).

One of the main strategies is to locate part of the residential offer on ground-floor level (wheelchair-friendly apartments) and so widen the façade of each apartment and open out 3 of the rooms (living room and 2 bedrooms) through the use of forecourts. 

The interior longitudinal 4.8 metre-wide courtyard constructs a naturally ventilated and sunlit semi-public space which becomes the backbone of the building. The width allows the 5 top floors to have a double bedroom with light flooding in through this space. Access through this interior walkway gives rise to a single vertical nucleus and enables access to be concentrated in one single entrance and foyer located in the corner at the end of the walkway.

As for materials, the use of an industrial façade with 12cm-thick thermal insulation and finished with in situ plastering narrows the façade and improves the useful floor area of the apartments.

The large-scale volume is toned down by the breaks arising from the smaller-scale forecourts. These forecourts and the interior courtyard will all be covered by tiles of different dimensions and colours forming vertical lines, in contrast to the roughcast plaster of the rest of the building and displaying the charm of the inner courtyard.

Team

• Architecture
  Jordi Badia + Cesc Duran
• Collaborators
  Eva Damià, Mariona Guàrdia, Albert Duque
• Computation structures
  BIS arquitectes
• Calculation facilities
  AIA
• Measurements and Budget
  FCA Forteza Carbonell Associats
• Contractor
  IMPSOL. Institut Metropolità de Promoció del Sòl i Gestió Patrimonial.

Publications

• Magazine: DAU Nº22
  Year 2004 Pag. 64 - 65 Project: Saló Central 105 Apartments in Sant Boi