Spread across a total floor area of 21,550 square meters, the open plan city block is located in Sanchinarro, a new district in the municipality of Madrid, within Hortaleza. The perforated block of Celosia assembles 146 apartments, communal outside areas throughout the building, and parking and commercial program in the plinth.
Built for EMVS, the public housing corporation of Madrid, the given volume of the city block was divided into 30 small blocks of apartments. These blocks are positioned in a checkerboard pattern next to, and on top of each other, leaving wide openings for communal patios throughout the building. A total of 146 one, two and three bedroom apartments are all accessed via these communal spaces.
Most apartments offer additional private outdoor space in the shape of a loggia right behind the front door. Inhabitants have the opportunity to gather in the communal high-rise patios, which offer views toward the city and the mountains, and provide natural ventilation in summer. Opening the front doors connects the private outdoor areas to the communal area.
The façade is made of coated concrete, which from the ground floor up is constructed in complete mould system, an efficient and clean way to cast concrete, keeping the construction cost to a minimum. The polyurethane coating allows the façade to shimmer and reflect depending on the light condition.
All windows are floor-to-ceiling and can block the sun completely. Each apartment has the possibility of cross ventilation through two or three facades, and enjoys views through the building and to the surrounding. A system of power efficient boilers is used in the building; solar panels on the roof heat water, reducing energy consumption further. A parking garage on two levels underneath the building provides 165 parking spaces. The ground floor offers room for six individual retail units.
The nearby Mirador building which was completed by MVRDV and Blanca Lleó in 2005 also discusses the traditional building block by putting it in a vertical perspective. The Celosia building is horizontally arranged around the interior court but opposes the generic introverted architecture in the area by bringing light and communal space into the building, allowing a perhaps more extroverted Spanish lifestyle as every apartment opens up to a small plaza.
MVRDV, a Rotterdam-based architecture and urban design practice founded in 1991, is an acronym for the founding members – Winy Maas (1959), Jacob van Rijs (1964) and Nathalie de Vries (1965).
