La Borda

La Borda is the first housing cooperative under a use-transfer model built on public land in Barcelona. This self-organised project led by its users aims to provide dignified, non-speculative housing that prioritises use value and promotes a collective structure. With its realisation, La Borda demonstrates that it is possible to establish a new model to address the urgent need for more affordable housing in the city. The initiative emerged in 2012 as a proposal from the Can Batlló neighbourhood, driven by the process of reclaiming the industrial site and the cooperative network in the Sants district. The project is located on a plot leased by the Barcelona City Council for 75 years, on Constitució Street.

La Borda’s design is presented as a radical prototype that embraces the transformative potential of the model and tackles the challenges of collective housing production. The project seeks to achieve low environmental impact, passive housing with minimal costs to ensure comfort, and the creation of alternative ways of living. Through the development of shared spaces, both the individual needs of users and community interactions are valued, becoming a fundamental part of the project.

The building’s programme is based on three overarching principles. The first is to redefine the collective housing programme. La Borda comprises 28 dwellings of 40, 60, and 75 m², complemented by several communal spaces that expand the concept of living—from private to public space—to strengthen community life. These shared areas include a communal kitchen-dining room, a laundry room, a multipurpose space, a guest room, a health and care space, storage rooms for plants, and outdoor areas such as the courtyard and rooftops. All of them are arranged around a central patio reminiscent of the traditional “corrales”, a popular housing typology.

The second core principle is sustainability and environmental quality. The aim is to construct the building with the lowest possible environmental impact, both during construction and throughout its life cycle, and to achieve residential comfort with minimal energy use, reducing the overall cost of housing access. Passive strategies are prioritised to harness existing resources and minimise the demand for energy, water, materials, and waste—with a particular focus on energy efficiency to prevent energy poverty among residents.

Finally, active participation by users is the third principle that sets this project apart. Collective management and self-development mean that users are actively involved throughout the entire process—from design to construction and use of the building. During the design phase, the architecture committee—made up of future residents and the technical team—was responsible for coordinating workshops on themes such as collective imaginaries, functional programming, environmental strategies, and housing typologies. These workshops enabled direct collaboration to tailor the project to the specific needs of its future residents.