La Bombeta

La Bombeta is a housing cooperative promoted by the resident group itself with the support of La Dinamo Fundació, located in a privately-owned, mid-block building in need of rehabilitation and change of use. Built in 1960 on Riera Blanca Street in Barcelona, the building was originally a lamp factory and store (hence the name “La Bombeta”) and was later subdivided and rented out to various companies and workshops. The cooperative will offer 7 dwellings and 8 cluster-type housing units. At Lacol, we are responsible for the design, construction management, and site coordination roles, supporting and strengthening the development process of cooperative housing by taking on delegated responsibilities from the developer, managing construction and finances to optimize the process and achieve the project’s goals.

The design concept understands the building as a volume made up of three pieces where the functional programme is organized. The first is the existing gallery on the street side (southwest façade), which is transformed into a large climatic device to improve the building’s passive performance. The second is the main structural body—the heaviest and most solid part—housing most of the indoor programme. This volume is kept as open as possible, emphasizing the structure above any other elements. The third piece, facing the inner courtyard, consists of volumes built with masonry and metal structures, with a less compact form. It will contain the new staircase, elevator, and access routes to the housing units.

The project seeks to rehabilitate as much of the existing building as possible and minimize demolition. This strategy reduces the material impact of construction, simplifies the building process, and preserves the maximum built volume. The main structure becomes the base for a new matrix that adapts to its logic while responding to users’ needs. The main interventions focus on the two façades—street and courtyard.

The street façade, oriented southwest, currently has a protruding glazed gallery, a distinctive feature of the building. The proposal is to turn this gallery into a more sophisticated bioclimatic element, connecting the air volumes of all floors to precondition fresh air, serving as a solar collector in winter and enhancing cross-ventilation in summer. The rear façade, facing the inner courtyard and oriented northeast, currently includes projecting volumes. These are partially retained to host the vertical cores, creating a dynamic access strip shaped by the movement flows and connections. This façade becomes a filter from public to private spaces, fostering spontaneous social interactions among members.

All housing floors follow a similar layout: a first zone along the rear façade and access walkway serves as a living space; the central part houses the service core as a connection point; and the private rooms (bedrooms) are located along the gallery.

One particularity of this group is their desire for different degrees of communal living, which results in a variety of layouts, from conventional flats to entire cluster-type floors. Since it is not possible to create large shared flats that comply with public housing regulations, the proposal is adapted to the accommodation typology defined in Decree 50/2020. The cluster model—already implemented in community housing in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria—allows base units to reduce their size and internal equipment (kitchen and bathroom), complemented by shared communal spaces for the floor. This fosters a more active, collective everyday life. The units are approximately 35 m² plus communal spaces. The smaller conventional flats are 45–47 m², and the medium ones with two bedrooms are around 62 m².

The project aims for high environmental efficiency, reducing impact both during construction and throughout the building’s life cycle, while defining an inclusive architecture. Universal accessibility is a key aspect, recognizing all degrees of mobility and the privileges that may change throughout life.

The decision to radically prioritize rehabilitation and minimize demolition is mainly a response to the environmental and energy impact of producing new construction materials.

A participatory process runs in parallel to the project development, involving future residents in decisions about both communal and private spaces, as well as in environmental, energy, and construction-related aspects—acknowledging their role as self-developers of a cooperative housing initiative.