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Architects: Javier de las Heras Solé
- Area: 4770 m²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:José Hevia
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Lead Architect: Javier de las Heras Solé
Text description provided by the architects. The plot is located at the corner of Cuba Street and Antoni Picornell Square in the neighborhood of Es Molinar in Palma.
An immediately degraded environment with an urban fabric yet to be consolidated but with great potential due to a privileged proximity to the port of Es Portixol, the beach, and the promenade of the Es Molinar neighborhood.
In the competition phase, we defined the urbanization of the environment using a pattern marked by strict orthogonality. With the same formal premises of orthogonality, without concessions, the foundations for the new construction are proposed.
After analyzing the program, it is proposed as a starting point that the day center and the premises be on the ground floor and that all the houses occupy the upper floors (ground floor + 1, 2, 3). Another condition that will mark the strategy of spatial organization is that due to the proximity to the sea and the possibility of enjoying its view from a certain height, all the houses will have to be able to see the sea. It also coincides with the best orientation in terms of sunlight.
With these two premises of elementary logic, the clear separation of uses is manifested, which will also be reflected at a formal level. The ground floor (day center-social premises) is understood as a dense, self-contained, heavy, immobile volume that is part of the land, and the upper floors (houses) as light, movable volumes, open and sliding over the former.
Ground Floor: Day Center - only enclosures are executed, no distributions or finishes: Interior Street: Parallel to Francesc Femenías Street, an interior street structures the entire floor into two parts, producing two accesses. The main one, is on Cuba Street, with a space reserved for temporary parking or ambulances, and a secondary access linked to the new urbanization.
Courtyards: The new center is closed on the outside, creating a new interior landscape defined by the image of the courtyard. It is not understood as a single space where the entire program revolves around it, but rather a sequence of three courtyards of different sizes according to their uses. These courtyards achieve the best possible conditions regarding sunlight, acoustic comfort, and wind -embat-.
4 Social Premises and 2 Premises: On the facade where the continuity of Guayaquil Street -north- is planned, four social premises are grouped together. The remaining two face the future pedestrian street.
1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors: Houses: The day center and social premises form a single solid body with horizontal proportions that becomes a platform on which pieces as housing containers slide and are arranged. These are placed in the most logical way taking into account orientation, sunlight, views... They open to the south in a U shape to ensure that all houses enjoy sea views.
Roof: Two roof levels can be considered, one for the day center and one for the houses. The roof of the day center becomes a new facade for the housing users, so a flat, minimally maintained green roof is proposed.
The material planned for the ground floor is marès, and for the upper floors, materials such as lime mortar plaster, chestnut wood, and glass.
