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Architects: Aguinaga y Asociados Arquitectos: Aguinaga y Asociados Arquitectos - Eugenio Aguinaga, Jose María Jiménez Urrutia, Ignacio López Fernández
- Area: 5568 m²
- Year: 2008
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Photographs:José Latova
Four linear blocks were arranged on the outer perimeter of the site with a built depth of 11.40 m, to obtain cross-ventilation in all the dwellings and to achieve the largest possible surface area in the interior patio for gardens as well as the best sunlight and ventilation in the dwellings. The four blocks are joined at the corners by lateral pillasters and the lower height blocks are offset from them, thus giving continuity to the façades and forming the block. A modular grid of 5.40 m was chosen in the direction of the façade and a grid of 5.35m/5.45 m in the direction of the built depth.
The fours sides of the block were divided into identical shaped communication cores and entrance halls, all with access to two dwellings per floor and total dimensions of 16.20 m x 11.40 m, which agrees closely with the floor areas for dwellings set out in social housing programs in general. There are thus 14 entrance halls, 8 for 3-bedroom dwellings and 6 entrance halls for 2- and 4-bedroom dwellings.
This solution also allows for a variety of orientations, while creating through the interior patio a more esthetically controlled and gardened scenery within. Ground floor dwellings were avoided for reasons of privacy and security. The ground floor is therefore an open space with only a minimum of entrance halls, the building utility rooms and 4 commercial premises. This openness of the ground floor also contributes to communication between the open areas. Access to all the entrance halls for security and aesthetic reasons is through four perimetral entrances, one on each side of the block, which give onto the patio from which each entrance hall is accessed.
The interior of the dwelling is distributed in a double orientation, with the bedrooms on the inside of the building and screened off from the entrance and the living room by the hallways, bathrooms and closets. The living room and kitchen look onto the street and are accessed through a hall from which the bedrooms are also accessed. The kitchen is next to the communications core and has a balcony on the facade.
The facades are resolved with large floor-to-ceiling windows and single-layer mortar in a pattern of different colors on the exterior wall elements suggesting a sort of fabric with an aesthetics reminiscent of a Paul Klee painting.
