Description

Urban context

This six-story residential and commercial building lies on the southern end of
one of Granada’s most important urban squares, where two avenues meet at a sharp
angle. This solitary new building closes off a narrow urban block and presents
its end side prominently toward the triangular Puerta Real plaza. The dominant
volume replaces the previous lower buildings on three different lots and
surrounds an old Andalusian courtyard house with two column-lined patios.

Ground-floor zone

The ground floor is filled with various commercial and retail units. They offer
their own access situations from the public urban space. The central entrance
from the plaza leads into the largest unit: a two-story bank branch. The
entrance to the apartments is on a less prominent position on the eastern side
of the building. Inside a small lobby leads to the elevator and stairwell that
serves the residences, which are located on the fourth floor and above.

Building structure

The commercial and office space forms a tall base, whose three floors account for
nearly half the building’s height. Though it has six stories on its north and
east sides, on the west it is reduced to this three-story base. This vertical
staggering, the angled cube, and its organization around small patios result in
a complex continuum of space in which interior and exterior spaces interweave in
a variety of ways. The intimate compositions of space repeatedly direct views
into the surrounding urban space and create an interesting contrast with the
large-scale sculptural forms of the building complex. Because the layout of the
old courtyard building was taken into account, the building is a collage of
different architectural eras.

Facade

The building presents itself as heavy and monolithic in its inner-city context.
The various functional units – public and private – can be read from the facade.
The three-story commercial base is clad in gray natural stone from the Sierra
Elvira. The same material was used for the urban paving around the building. The
area intended for housing, which occupies the three stories above the base, and
the new facade of the old courtyard building feature white plaster. The visual
relationships between the surrounding urban space and this modulated plastic
volume are constantly changing.

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