Architecture studios MARMOLBRAVO and MADhel collaborated to design the housing complex named LaScalA, a building with 100 social housing that seeks to combine urban integration, housing quality and the adjustment of economic variables. The building is located in the Puente de Vallecas district, in the capital, Madrid.

The height and configuration of the volume of the LaScalA complex try to adapt to the environment and the urban structure in which it is inscribed. Faced with the linear solution proposed by the regulations, of 9 heights + attic of the urban plan, the studies proposed reducing the perception of the size of the building by reducing the height, treating the colour of the envelope and the fragmentation of the volumes.

Rearticulating the design volume conditions, MARMOLBRAVO and MADhel thus also improve the interior quality of the houses, their sunlight and their ventilation, achieving that all the houses have cross ventilation or in the corner of an open patio. Its distribution is understood as an extension of the free space of the plot, making it easier for the building to only have a single vertical communication core.

The project uses its roofs as exterior space for the houses, taking advantage of the meandering plan that allows for more buildable space to be concentrated on the first four floors and freeing up the volume on its upper floors.

The project opts for passive energy efficiency strategies such as care for the continuous thermal envelope on the outside, with a SATE façade and aluminium carpentry with thermal break and shutter tunnel drawers.


LaScalA by MARMOLBRAVO + MADhel. Photograph by Pedro Pegenaute.


LaScalA by MARMOLBRAVO + MADhel. Photograph by Pedro Pegenaute.

Description of project by MARMOLBRAVO and MADhel

LaScalA seeks to combine urban integration, housing quality and the adjustment of economic variables.

As an urban solution, opposed to the linear solution of 9 stories + attic of the urban plan, LaScalA proposes to reduce the perceived size of the building by reducing the height and by fragmenting volumes. This also improves the interior quality of the dwellings, their sunlight condition and ventilation.
    
A building sensitive to the urban situation in which it is located. Its height and volumetric configuration seeks to adapt to the surroundings, notably reducing its scale by staggering the building, a meandering floor plan articulated by three open courtyards and the large staggered openings in the façade. The recessing and change of colour of the upper floors contribute to the reduction of the perceived scale.


LaScalA by MARMOLBRAVO + MADhel. Photograph by Pedro Pegenaute.

The building has a single vertical communication core and all the dwellings have cross or corner ventilation to the open courtyard. The distributors to the dwellings are viewed as an extension of the public space of the plot, a naturally ventilated and illuminated place for social interactions. These spaces have been optimised in terms of surface area without sacrificing architectural quality.

The twisting floor plan with three open courtyards makes it possible to concentrate more building space on the first four floors and gradually release the volume on the upper floors. In this way, the project begins to use the roofs as an outdoor space for the dwellings, giving as a result a large number of penthouse dwellings.


LaScalA by MARMOLBRAVO + MADhel. Photograph by Pedro Pegenaute.

The housing has been designed under the concepts of continuity and spatial amplitude. The project opts for passive energy efficiency strategies such as the care of the continuous thermal envelope on the outside, with an ETICS façade and aluminium joinery with thermal bridge break and roller shutter tunnel boxes.

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Architects
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MARMOLBRAVO (Marina del Mármol, Mauro Bravo) + MADhel (Miguel Herraiz, Daniel Bergman).
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Collaborators
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Alfonso Sáenz.
Cuantitive surveyor.- Luís Calvo.
Engineers.- Mecanismo y eadAT.
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Builder
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VÍAS y construcciones, S.A.
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Developer
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EMVS.
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Area
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Built surface above ground level.- 8725.88 m².
Built surface below ground.- 3847.24 m².
Total surface.- 12,573.12 m².
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Dates
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Project year.- 2010 First Prize contest.
Year of construction.- 2021.
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Location
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C/ Peña Falconera, 2 and C/ Peña Amaya, 3 (garage), Puente de Vallecas district, Madrid. Spain.
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Awards
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2022 FIRST PRIZE Award Winners Technal HABITAR Collective Housing.
2022 FIRST PRIZE "collective housing" category Life Challenge 2022.
2022 MENTION Veteco Award Window category with LaScalA, 100 social housing for the EMVS.
2022 SELECTED ARCHITECTURE AWARDS 2022 Superior Council of Colleges of Architects (CSCAE), pending ruling.
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Budget
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€7,435,732.57.
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Manufacturers
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Aluminum carpentry.- Technal.
SATE façade.- Baumit.
Shutter drawers.- Cajaislant.
False gallery ceiling.- Parklex.
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Photography
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MARMOLBRAVO is an architecture studio led by Marina del Mármol (1979) and Mauro Bravo (1973), founding partners of UNTERCIO (2006-2015) and since 2015 of the MARMOLBRAVO studio. COAM collegiate architects whose work has been recognized with eight FIRST PRIZES in collective housing competitions and AWARDS for the best collective housing built work with Vallecas 47, 46 social housing, and LaScalA, 100 social housing. His work has been published in national and international specialized magazines. Likewise, they have given lectures on his works in national and international universities as well as in architects' colleges.

Marina del Mármol (1979. Madrid, Spain) is an architect from ETSAM (2005), and she obtained the Diploma of Advanced Studies in Architectural Projects in 2011. In 2000-2001 she studied in Holland, TUDelft. In 2006-2007 she collaborates in the Madrid Río project. She has taught project classes at ETSAM with the Luis Fernández-Galiano Teaching Unit and Interior and Industrial Design classes at IED, in addition to having coordinated workshops and conferences at different universities and professional forums.

Mauro Bravo (1973. Santiago, Chile) is an architect from ETSAM (2005) and has a degree in Fine Arts specializing in design from the Complutense University of Madrid (1996). After his research in the ETSAM Department of Graphic Ideation, he obtained the Advanced Studies Diploma in 2011. He has worked as a professor of Interior Design projects for the IED in Madrid. He has trained professionally in the Netherlands, TUDelft (2000-2001) and in Italy, Politecnico di Milano (1995-1996).
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MADhel is an architecture studio based in Madrid, directed by Daniel Bergman (1978) and Miguel Herraiz (1978), founding partners of the UNTERCIO studio (2006-2015). Studio explores from the building to the city and from the city to the building, and will explore new challenges and technologies, such as sustainability and bim. An urban architecture linked to the city, with a special interest in housing and a close-scale urbanism that cares about and prepares the insertion of buildings.

Daniel Bergman (1978. Siboo, Finland) is an architect from ETSAM (2005), with an outstanding qualification and Extraordinary End of Degree Award. Master's Degree in Urbanism and Territory Planning in 2013 at the same university. Interested in collective housing, residential satisfaction evaluation methods, and housing quality, he understands design as a circular process of feedback and dialogue. He is also interested in the city and the interaction of mobility, space syntax and gis systems. Between 2003 and 2007 he worked at Javier Sáenz Guerra's studio in Madrid, with whom he participated in countless competitions, winning prizes in some (homes for EMVS, for example), and later at Auer and Sandâs in Finland, where he learned about standardization processes in information management to free up creative time.

Miguel Herraiz (1978. Madrid, Spain) is an architect from ETSAM (2005) and has a Master's in Analysis, Theory and History of Architecture from the same university. He specialist in collective housing. Experience acquired in the development of social housing projects for the EMVS for 10 years and 2 years for the PMH of Barcelona as a partner of the UNTERCIO studio. He combines professional work with academic work as a researcher at the ETSAM European Contemporary Collective Housing Research Group since 2012. He Design and curator of exhibitions with Nexatenaus. Criticism and consultancy in architecture and contemporary design.
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Published on: April 17, 2023
Cite: "Adaptation through volume fragmentation. LaScalA by MARMOLBRAVO + MADhel" METALOCUS. Accessed
<http://www.metalocus.es/en/news/adaptation-through-volume-fragmentation-lascala-marmolbravo-madhel> ISSN 1139-6415
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