Description

Urban context

This building occupies the northwest corner of a perimeter block in Ensanche,
Barcelona, near the Diagonal. The block is opened here in such a way that the
building is exposed and only its east side is built against a firewall. Seen
from the park across the street, the building appears to be autonomous and
freestanding.

Ground-floor zone

The ground floor recedes behind the line of the buildings and is occupied by
public institutions. The transition to the street space creates a small plaza.
Its identity is clearly expressed by the continuous vertical glass connection
with urban space. A spacious lobby leads into the access corridors that serve
all the apartments on the upper floors.

Building structure

A zigzagging inner corridor that expands and contracts links the stairwells on
either end. With its materials of dark natural stone and wood wall panels, the
light-flooded space produces an ambience of luxury living in the entry zone to
the individual apartments. Six units on each floor are accessed from that zone.
The apartments are arranged as a diagonal sequence of spaces. Although some of
the apartments have views only on one side and small layouts, sliding doors
provide a certain sense of spaciousness and permit a variety of spatial
relationships both within the apartments and with the exterior.

Facade

The folds of the facades result in a variegated outward appearance and a
heterogeneous transition space between the apartment and the surrounding urban
space. The multilayered folds span an interim zone with a small private open
area. This balcony layer produces a two-level facade. The large-format metal
slats that cross at different levels of the facade slide toward one another to
control the light entering. In addition, they can be set to produce either an
intimate character or an open panorama view.

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Originally published in: Ulrike Wietzorrek, Housing+: On Thresholds, Transitions, and Transparencies, Birkhäuser, 2014.