19 Social housing units on rental basis and public space in 37th, Salvador Espriu St. Palma (IBAVI)
The building is divided into two volumes forming an L, one oriented E-W, and the other N-S. The typologies, with two and three bedrooms, are resolved with double orientation dwellings and the structure of 20cm thick load-bearing walls of marés sandstone that provide inertia to passively cool in summer, as support for the sea breezes cross ventilation (Embat/Terral).
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Unlike the building of phase 1 (39 Salvador Espriu), whose buildable depth is 8m and it is solved with a barrel stone vault supported at the facade, here at the second phase the depth is 13.5m, which requires to release the façade from the structural function in order to provide the maximum illumination surface to the dwellings. The floors are resolved by wooden beams supported on the parallel walls between houses, made of 20x20x80 cm local sandstone blocks. The marés pieces have been cut in half to comply with the maximum weight regulations to be moved by the operators. The structural solution is based on the Menorcan system, which derives from the Catalan one imported in the 13th century, since the Majorcan way, which derives from the Roman house, loads the slabs on the façade walls.
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The windows are protected behind a colonnade made up of 40x40cm stone pillars that form a loggia that houses roller blinds, fences and vines to protect from the sun and provide privacy to the porches and terraces.
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The global solution for both buildings and public space aims to encourage residents to go out 'a la fresca’ on summer nights, with chairs and 'rockers', and is an example for recovering the model of the Mediterranean city, dense, compact, Low-rise and equipped with public spaces that reduce the 'heat island' effect.
