Public housing in Zorrotzaurre
2604-STP-BIO.ES-2019
Architect: PRÁCTICA
Client: Gobierno Vasco
Status: Competition (2019)
Location: Bilbao, Spain
Coordinates: 43.269864, -2.958141
Climate: Temperate, Oceanic / maritime
Material: Concrete
Environments: Urban, Riverside
Visualizer: Kelvin Ho
Scale: 5.287 ㎡ Medium
Types: Housing, Residential

This new public housing building in Zorrotzaurre searches for a balance between a discrete presence suitable for residential architecture, which builds up the city fabric, and the singularity that the Deusto Canal waterfronts demand. Far from building up a solid front, its permeable presence encourages crossed views between the inner city fabric and the river.

The building’s massing is compacted in two volumes with nearly zero energetic consumption. These two towers frame a public plaza and garden on ground floor in direct relation to the water. Their stepped facades allow for direct views into the river from all rooms.

The public space that surrounds the two buildings is not a generic one: a new public plaza covered by a vegetated pergola is laid out between them, configuring a community meeting hub for the residents. This space serves as a point of interaction between the architecture and its residents.

The front of the public plaza is covered by a tree garden that serves as a filter towards the river promenade on ground floor. This garden serves as wind protection, while tying back to the waterfront landscape intervention under development.

Competition: Public housing in Zorrotzaurre | Team: Jaime Daroca, José Mayoral, José Ramón Sierra, Javier Terrados | Collaborator: Sebastián Peñas | Post date: 17/03/2020 | Views: 2.405