Empriu

Empriu is a housing cooperative in use-transfer format, driven by future residents and supported technically by La Dinamo Foundation. It will include 30 dwellings and 10 shared units grouped into 2 clusters, along with community spaces spread across the basement, ground floor, and rooftop, and a publicly owned commercial unit. These communal spaces are essential to complement the housing units, enrich community life, support coexistence, and strengthen ties with the surrounding neighbourhood. Lacol is responsible for the design of the building, construction management, and project oversight, taking on delegated tasks from the developer to coordinate construction and budgeting in order to optimise the process and meet its goals.

The building occupies the entire plot on the typical floors to maximise the residential surface area and creates a strong urban façade on Amadeu Oller Street, in dialogue with the surrounding buildings, along with a large porch providing access to the building, the commercial unit, and some of the shared areas. On the side facing the Can Batlló complex, large terraces provide access to the dwellings and communal spaces, and the basement hosts shared areas that connect directly with the park.

The ground floor and rooftop accommodate community areas, offering various degrees of privacy and shared use. The ground floor is split into two levels (ground and basement), connected through double-height spaces that enhance interaction among the cooperative’s collective areas and act as a semi-public link between the street and the park. The building has a single vertical core located near the main entrance, which connects the upper floors. Each residential floor is accessed through external walkways. These walkways are conceived as “elevated streets”—2.5 meters wide—offering not just circulation, but also areas for socialising, relaxing, and outdoor living.

The 30 dwellings are located between the second and fourth floors. They are compact but complemented by over 500 m² of shared facilities. The layout is organised in three strips: at the entrance, the public areas with kitchen, living, and dining; in the centre, a bathroom and a flexible circulation space; and at the far end, the private rooms facing Amadeu Oller Street. These can be configured as one, two, or three bedrooms using annex modules that can be connected to adjacent homes.

The entire first floor is devoted to the cluster housing model—an innovative typology already implemented in cooperative projects in countries such as Switzerland, Germany, or Austria. It groups several small private units around shared spaces (kitchen, living-dining room, and reading-working area), reinforcing community life in everyday routines.

The project aims for high environmental efficiency, minimising impact during construction and the building’s lifespan. To reduce time and costs, it relies on prefabricated concrete and dry construction systems, complemented by suspended metal walkways and balconies. The design prioritises universal accessibility—essential in a multigenerational housing cooperative—and considers people of all ages and abilities.

Throughout the process, residents participate in decision-making about the design of both private and shared spaces, as well as environmental, energy, and construction aspects, reinforcing their active role as co-developers in a collectively promoted housing project.