Social housing in L’Hospitalet

Location: L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona
Year: 2011
Surface: 54.400 m2
Status: Academic project

TWO BLOCKS TWO VOIDS

The assignment consisted of designing 400 apartments on a huge plot in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, a city on the outskirts of Barcelona. The plot belongs to an old factory complex called Cosme Toda from which the middle brick construction will be preserved. The aim is connecting the different scales of the neighbourhood and also the urban fabric through two big blocks. These blocks leave two big voids in front of them that will be used to have two dense forests in the middle of the city. Both buildings are 5 storey high and have three big patios that bring light and silence to the interior. The structure is a sequence of parallel load bearing walls that remind to a pentagram and brings cohesion to the project.  This strategy not only relates the project to the surroundings, but also creates two-sided oriented apartments -one through the street facade and the other through the patio.

  • Team: Albert Montilla
Two big pieces in contrast with two dense forests. The project relates to the existing surroundings through different alignments.
The aim is creating a consistent image with the existing construction.
The plot is defined by two railway infrastructures.
The project has an orthogonal direction which doesn’t follow any existing direction.

The project preserves the existing construction from the old industrial complex Cosme Toda which is located in the middle of the plot.

The two volumes are shifted in order to be in line with the existing construction and leave space for two dense forests.
STANDARD FLOOR. The division of the two pieces reminds to a pentagram which relates to the scale of neighbours.
The volumes are perforated in a way that the apartments get good lighting and ventilation inside.
The vegetation in the patios creates spaces of peace and silence.
The materials emphasize the contrast between interior and exterior: black brick on the exterior and white brick on the interior.
GROUND FLOOR. The patios on this level allow the circulation around them and also connect to the street.
BASEMENT. The patios go until this level bringing natural lighting and ventilation to the parking.
The facades consist of small windows that create continuous horizontal lines around the whole volume.
A ceramic pattern adds a new scale providing light and privacy to the spaces behind.
The deepest typology is 30m.
These apartments are two-sided oriented -one side on the street and the other on the patio- complemented by an interior courtyard.