46 Social Houses / Gabriel Verd

© Roland Halbe Architects: Gabriel Verd Arquitectos
Location: Sevilla, Spain
Architect In Charge: Gabriel Verd
Design Team: Gabriel Verd, Simone Solinas
Area: 6,738 sqm
Year: 2011
Photographs: Roland Halbe

Structures: Santiago Bermejo
Installations: IDD Consultores
Technical Architect: Eduardo Vázquez López
Collaborators: Federico Farina, Ronit Shmaryahu

The project was built in an area of residential expansion in the outer suburb of Seville, in the south of Spain.

© Roland Halbe

The small size of the plot and the high housing density that was required suggested a court-type solution. The patio played a key role as an area for social interaction and made it possible to achieve the objective of giving the 46 apartments (2 or 3 bedrooms) two prospects – on the inner courtyard and on the street.

© Roland Halbe

Each apartment is divided by a central access with service facilities. The bedrooms have tall, narrow windows and are on the northern side while the sitting rooms and kitchens that give onto the souther side have large windows. The terraces are designed as outdoor extensions of the sitting rooms and their projections shade the large windows during the summer months while allowing the sun to enter during the winter. This means that all the apartments are exposed on both sides, with cross ventilation.

© Roland Halbe

On the ground floor, shops are separated by entrances to the vertical circulation systems which go through the block from one side to the other, linking the internal courtyard and the road. The complex is complete with parking spaces and store rooms for each apartment.

© Roland Halbe

The materials, which are those for low-income housing, are finished in simple ways, such as pre-coloured plasterwork with different textures and nuances, depending on the surface to be made. The use of corrugated zinc panels in five different alloys – opaque on the ground floor and microperforated on the upper floors of the apartments – gives the impression of a space with colours and reflections that change during course of the day.

First Floor Plan