BL783

Rafaela, Argentina

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BL783

Rafaela, Argentina

Firm

Claudio Walter Arquitectos

Type

Residential › Apartment Multi Unit Housing Student Housing

YEAR

2014

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

The Lehmann boulevard is named after the founder of the colony Rafaela. It is one of the two foundational axes that intersect each other orthogonally and form the main square of the city that is surrounded by old and leafy Tipas (Tipuana Tipu). The urban space is ample with low-rise buildings and a landscape with a predominance of Jacarandás (Jacaranda Mimoosifolia) and Iapachos Rosados (Handroanthus impetiginosus).

In this project there was a small plot of land from the demolition of an old house without historical value. The expectation the developer focused on was optimizing economic outcome. In addition to the conditions imposed by the city building code, the budget was limited and the execution time was not to exceed 12 months.

The premise is solved with two blocks linked by circulation seeking to consolidate the front of said boulevard, and optimizing climate conditioning in the north-facing rear block. The circulatory pattern becomes the vertical axis which orders joint and walkways, linking departments with rightful urban windows, closing the south to protect from wind and rain, and opening to the north.

The ground floor is for parking, the entrance hall, and also has a small transparent and spatial fluidity shop.

The visual depth that allows the width of the road and the low altitude environment challenged us to work side walls with the same importance as the main facade. The main image of the building is made up of stainless steel screens to filter sunlight, laminated glass as guardrails, and exposed concrete slabs for each floor.

The lateral was designed with slivers of glass (also improving the light quality inside the units), and aluminum bars that generate an irregular grid which seeks to harmonize by contrast with the main facade.

The rear volume opens through large windows arranged in the living area of the apartments. The housing units are simple and are divided by partitions of drywall, allowing flexibility to adapt to different usage patterns.