The Living Building
Torre Urrutia, Barcelona 2004
Il progetto di 100 appartamenti per giovani, situato accanto al Parco Centrale del Nou Barris, é compreso in un progetto della cittá di Barcellona orientato a favorire e promuovere l’accesso alla casa dei giovani. Il programma sviluppa un’insieme di piccoli appartamenti (circa 40 mq), quasi unipersonali, con alcuni servizi comuni.
Si sviluppa il progetto in una torre di 16 piani di altezza, situata all’angolo tra via Fabra i Puig e Passeig d’Urrutia, con lo scopo di rivolgere una facciata minima verso il parco e permettere la permeabilitá delle viste e degli itinerari pedonali lungo il Passeig d’Urrutia.
La torre perde via via volume, scalando la pianta in gradoni di diverso materiale, dal pesante al leggero, il mattone faccia-vista e il policarbonato.
The Urrutia Tower in Barcelona is a demonstration of how
Design and Environment can be combined to provide an
exceptional living building.
The building houses offices of the Autonomous University
of Barcelona and 100 small apartments (40sqm) and
shared facilities.
The building meets the criteria of the sustainable building
program of the Catalonian Government (Act 157/2002).
A number of ESD strategies were used: The building
orientation allowed two fl at urban masonry facades
with high windows emphasising the vertical plane of its
tectonic geometry with the two streets.
The random distribution of the windows on the masonry
facades and the continuous opening from floor to ceiling
underlines the tower’s permeability. The other two sides of
the tower, also of masonry on the lower floors, are broken
in height and progressively opens themselves to the exterior
space of the new landscape . It is here where the most
industrialised materials such as polycarbonate, aluminium
and glass reflects the plants life of the environment.
In addition of this outstanding design, the homes receive
a minimum of one hour of direct sunlight between 10.00
and 14.00 at the winter solstice. All the windows have
roll-up aluminium blinds for protection against sunlight,
which allows the users to control, adjust and monitor the
environment they live in.
Situated next to Parc Central Nou Barris, this tower
hosts the headquarters of the Autonomous University of
Barcelona, as well as 100 dwellings for the students and
parking areas for bicycles and motorbikes.
The different areas of the tower are organized vertically,
showing minimum of facade towards the Parc Central
thus offering views and routes for the pedestrians along
the Passeig d´Urrutia. The ground floor on the level of Via
Urrutia features a large triple-height room which house the
University Institute, and the hall leading to the dwelling is
on the same level as the garden. The communal areas,
located above on the two intermediate floors, consist of a
semi-transparent covered place facing an open-air terrace,
thus communicating with the surrounding landscape. The
top floor houses the hot water system powered by solar
panels installed on inaccessible roofs.
The tower looses mass as it rises, terraces itself and shifts
its material, making a transition from heavy to light and
from brick wall to metal and fibreglass.
