We built a center for the mentally handicapped in a unique location with a natural and monumental environment within the urban center of Barcelona, on a plot of irregular geometry and with a steep slopefacing the city and the sea.
Studio Name: 4arquitectura + magrinyà arquitectes
Design Team: Albert Casanovas Rancaño, Òscar Magrinyà i Lorente.
Area:1.045 sq mt
Year: 2019
Location: Barcelona, Spain.
Consultants: PGI Engineering
Photography Credits: 4arquitectura + magrinyà arquitectes
The challenges of the project were to rationalize a double program with differentiated accesses and shared common services (home-residence and assisted residence, depending on the type of support required by the residents) and to take advantage of the topography to generate accessible and generous outdoor spaces for future users.
A compact volumetric building with a ground floor and two floor plans was projected, close to the upper limit of the plot and away from the street front to create an intermediate green space for outdoor activity. The floor plans, with a rectilinear and elongated geometry, house the different living units for the residents, understood as autonomous dwellings, with clear spaces and clear paths, with constant visual references to the outside to facilitate orientation.
The ground floor, with a more adaptable and irregular geometry, houses common services and multipurpose spaces, divisible or joinable depending on the activities to be carried out. It is related to the outdoor garden through a meandering curtain-façade that filters the outside light and blends in with the topography. The resistant materials and neutral finishes allow and expect the future personalization of the spaces by the new occupants.
The exterior space is a hillside garden with defined recreational and rest areas connected to each other by walking paths, as well as non defined topographies waiting for potential activities. Enjoyable for users and friendly for the environment.
