OZ 3459
Context I Location
OZ 3459 is a condo building with seven housing units located in the Saavedra neighborhood, a residential area in the city of Buenos Aires. Located in an unusual city block on an alley, with height limitations set by the r2bi zoning code, this small area of 8.66 m x 18.00 m gives us the possibility of placing a building on the entire land area.
The building incorporates the scale of the neighborhood on the front and back facades, joining the courtyards with the neighboring boundaries, and producing a setback on the top floors. Construction is designed with one floor less than allowed by the zoning code. The project takes the pattern of the architecture of courtyards, characteristic in many of the traditional neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.
ConfigurationI Consistency
The program is organized into four stories, with a system of courtyards and a central service block, with the private and semi-public spaces laid out around it. This articulation of the building volume with the succession of courtyards allows for the creation of spaces with cross ventilation, which capture natural light at different times of day.
The units on the first two floors are studio apartments, with the possibility of being divided or working as a single space, since they can be used as an office. On the second floor, two duplex units are laid out, which are set back on the top floor to generate terraces.
Tectonics I Materiality
The structure is comprised of reinforced concrete, and the exterior envelope was built with common brick. The brick was arranged in different ways both to clad floors, walls and ceilings, as well as to achieve different levels of privacy, brightness and opacity. Contrasting the reddish color of the brick, interiors were finished with neutral materials, in gray and white colors.
The permeability of the material and the incidence of light change the spatial qualities of the building and its surroundings throughout the day.
Proposals I Results
There is a search for coherence between the volumetric configuration of the building and its material resolution, because the layout of the spaces allow room for courtyards, which resemble light entries that exist in brick patterns.
Another challenge raised by the proposal was to design for a specific residential density in a small area, without compromising spatial quality. The building manages to articulate private and semi-public spaces, indoor and outdoor, in an urban neighborhood.
