The residential complex designed by Ricardo González Sánchez configures a housing volume in which the sequence of exterior spaces is articulated on different levels—ground floor, intermediate floors, and attic—in dialogue with the interior meeting spaces. The latter are notable for the widened interior galleries and the presence of large common areas, achieving a balance between communal and private spaces.
The project transforms the limitations of the urban environment, marked by heavy traffic and the narrowness of the plot, into an opportunity. To this end, the two blocks that comprise the complex are strategically folded, avoiding the monotony and emptiness of the large volumes proposed in the area's urban plan, as well as the imposing dimensions of the surrounding buildings.
NSA 14 by Ricardo Sánchez González. Photograph by Imagen Subliminal.
Project description by Ricardo González Sánchez
With an investment of almost €18 million, this "NSA 14" development consists of two blocks with 205 apartments: 204 with one bedroom, nine of which are also adapted for people with reduced mobility, and one with two bedrooms. It also has 208 parking spaces and a commercial space. To promote neighborhood coexistence, a green space and two porch areas protected from the rain will be created.
The blocks are located on a corner of the Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles neighborhood, on Avenida de San Diego. Despite its narrowness with only one lane in each direction, this avenue attracts heavy traffic as it is the backbone of this area of Vallecas.
The proposal seeks to soften the stark image of a building of this size by folding it into a slight zigzag, using gently rotating parallelepipeds, so that the homes' internal shape and orthogonal construction are not compromised.
The breaks are absorbed by the vertical communication cores, acting as hinges that introduce natural light into the access corridor to the homes. In this way, the towers are pierced within by a central corridor that absorbs deformations, while the homes occupy the perimeter, always respecting right angles in all their interior spaces. The spaces generated are pleasant and avoid monotony. As already explained, an attempt has been made to create an advantage from a formal urban planning disadvantage.
The concatenation of exterior connecting spaces—on the ground, intermediate, and attic floors—with interior meeting spaces, in the widening of the interior galleries and in the large ground-floor spaces, generates a good balance of shared and private spaces. The homes comply with the usable areas established by EMVS Madrid, and connecting spaces have been maximized and adjusted, attempting to avoid spaces for mere communication. Two blocks fold slightly, avoiding the monotony and rotundity of volumes as large as those proposed by the urban plan, without sacrificing the desired compactness.
