67 Social housing units in Illa Glòries
Building C at Illa Glòries, designed by Vivas Arquitectos and Pau Vidal, is part of the largest social housing project in the city of Barcelona, with a total of 238 dwellings. With 67 housing units, this building has been conceived from an innovative perspective that prioritises sustainability, quality of life and neighbourhood cohesion.
Organised around exterior walkways and an interior courtyard, the building favours cross ventilation, natural light and a closer relationship with the urban environment. The access galleries, one of the most distinctive elements of the project, act as shared spaces between the private and the communal. They reinterpret the traditional model of the collective flat, bringing it closer to the logic of a high-rise single-family dwelling. In addition to favouring neighbourly encounters, they function as thermal and light filters, and extend domestic use towards the exterior, improving daily life and reinforcing the autonomy of each home within a shared structure.
Urban context
The Glòries Catalanes square occupies a strategic position in Barcelona’s urban fabric, acting as the point of confluence of three of its main arteries: Gran Via, Avinguda Diagonal, and Avinguda Meridiana. Each of them provides different urban qualities: the Gran Via connects to the with the coastline and is committed to a mobility that reduces the presence of road traffic; the Diagonal structures the Eixample district, articulating the connection between the sea and the upper areas of the city; while the Meridiana transforms its urban character precisely when it reaches Glòries.
This node is also accessed by the historic Carrer de Ribes, conceived as a civic axis that reinforces pedestrian and cyclist mobility, connecting neighborhoods and facilities in continuity with Carrer del Clot. Illa Glòries, located within the area of the ‘Superilla’ bounded by Consell de Cent, Castillejos, Bolívia and Independència streets, forms part of this urban context. The development, regulated by the Pla Especial de Millora Urbana (PEMU), is made up of four buildings (blocks A, B, C, and D) and represents the largest social housing development in the city, with a total of 238 dwellings. Building C, with 67 units, is part of this key intervention to promote a more inclusive, sustainable, and connected urban model.
Building C
The proposal for Building C is based on criteria of typological flexibility, environmental sustainability and social cohesion. The dwellings have a double orientation typology, accessible from exterior walkways that communicate with an interior courtyard. This layout not only improves cross ventilation and solar gain, but also facilitates the adaptation of the building to different heights and conditions of the immediate surroundings.
From the fifth floor onwards, the absence of the B-block allows the dwellings to be reoriented towards the south and the walkways to be moved to the north façade, optimising views and sunlight.
The building reinforces the communal dimension through large communal areas and connecting walkways, which not only serve as circulation elements, but also act as transitional spaces between private housing and public space. These walkways allow for a more gradual access experience, encouraging encounters between neighbours and fostering a sense of community. In order to improve the natural lighting and ventilation of the courtyard, the built volume is strategically interrupted by terraces and through galleries, articulated with vertical cuts and mobile carpentry that give permeability to the whole.
The access galleries, conceived as intermediate spaces, reinterpret the collective flat as a single-family high-rise dwelling. Located on the threshold between the domestic space and the street, these galleries provide functional, social and climatic benefits. They act as thermal and light filters, adapting to the seasonal cycle: open and ventilated in summer, they collaborate in natural cooling; closed in winter, they capture heat through the greenhouse effect, improving thermal comfort without resorting to mechanical systems. In addition, they extend domestic use outwards, enriching the spatial quality of the home. This habitable threshold transforms access into a climatically efficient and socially active experience, reinforcing the autonomy of the home within the framework of a collective structure.
From a compositional perspective, the building is structured in horizontal strips - ground floor, walkways, communal spaces, cornice and vertical openings - in contrast with the verticality of the interior voids, generating a formal dialogue with the rest of the architectural ensemble.
The constructive solution opts for a dry façade with a high degree of pre-industrialisation, minimising the environmental impact. The structure is made of reinforced concrete slabs and pillars. The building has a basement for parking, a ground floor and nine levels with seven flats per floor, plus two additional levels on the Gran Via façade, making a total of eleven floors. The design incorporates renewable energy systems, such as centralised aerothermal energy and photovoltaic panels on the roof, guaranteeing high standards of energy efficiency and near-zero energy consumption (NZEB).
CREDITS
Client
IMHAB
Institut Municipal de
l’Habitatge de Barcelona
Authors of the project
Vivas Arquitectos
Pau Vidal
Construction company
UTE Sacyr - Scrinser
Collaborators
Structures: Bernuz Fernandez Arquitectes
Installations: Eletresjota Tècnics Associats
Acoustics: Àurea Acústica
Sustainability: Societat Orgànica
Executive management: Joan March Raurell
Architecture: Jaume Aballí
