Abril

Abril is a housing cooperative led by a group of people with close ties to the Poblenou neighbourhood in Barcelona who have been working in the cooperative housing sector for years. In 2021, through Barcelona City Council’s ESAL scheme – designed to promote the housing cooperative model through transfer of the rights of use over municipal land to non-profit organisations in the city – Abril, with the support of La Dinamo Fundació, was awarded a plot of land on the corner of Av. Pere IV and Carrer Ciutat de Granada. The building will consist of 18 homes, a commercial unit and a series of communal spaces on the ground floor, in addition to two flexible-use spaces on the upper floors. The aim is that each space enriches community life, shared living and ties with the local area. Lacol is in charge of building design, construction management and site management to support and streamline the cooperative housing development process and achieve its objectives, carrying out tasks assigned by the developer and the building and financial management teams.

The main entrance to the building is located on its north-east facade, overlooking the street on Carrer Ciutat de Granada. In recognition of the designation of this street as a future green corridor, plant coverage is extended to the inner courtyard, with a permeable facade providing a visual access point to the interior green space. The commercial premises located at the front of the building –the most public and visible facade – face onto the Pere IV corridor. The development of the Abril building is focused on maximising depth through contact with the west wall. A narrow space, intimately linked to the continuous and homogeneous exterior composed of the street-facing facades, folds round to join with the north face, creating a new facade in the inner courtyard. This element ensures open space within the building’s walls is maximised. On the ground floor, this perimeter is fragmented to increase permeability with the street.

The ground floor and the roof offer communal spaces, providing for community as well as more private activities in varying degrees. From the ground floor, close to the main entrance, a stairway will connect with the other floors, with circulation and access to housing units via a walkway. Circulation within the building, although open, runs flush to a lightweight structure housing solar panels, in order to free up the surface of the roof for community activities. The housing units are delimited by a facilities area featuring kitchens and bathrooms, which provides a filter between the interior courtyard and access points via a diaphanous opening linked to the outer facade, and a continuous balcony that links rooms based on the modulation of the interior domestic and adjoining spaces that are added to each unit. This system allows for the creation of a range of different organisational models according to the type and size of the homes (from 2.5 to 5.5 modules), in line with residents’ needs. At the same time, the floors are open plan, with a high degree of user input in interior design.

The project aims for a high degree of environmental efficiency by reducing the environmental impact of both the construction and the useful life of the building through inclusive architecture, with universal accessibility to all spaces within the building (with particular attention to the needs of children, the elderly and those with diverse mobility needs). Despite the cost of employing concrete for the structure, the use of this material is optimised to the maximum, taking advantage of its benefits in terms of thermal inertia and acoustic insulation, making it possible to simplify and lighten other construction elements. The facades feature thermo-clay closure with lime and cork lining for external insulation. The building does not include car parking in order to encourage sustainable mobility, but does feature convenient and easily accessible bicycle parking. In terms of self-sufficiency, the design includes a trellis fitted with solar panels below the maximum statutory height, taking advantage of the empty space created by the design of the building with the recession of the rear facade. Through a consultation process, parallel to the rollout of the project, users can get involved in the decisions being made about the different community and private spaces, as well as the environmental, energy and constructive aspects of the project, taking into account their joint-status as both cooperative housing champions and residents.