Social Housing in Vitoria-Gasteiz, European Green Capital.

The Spanish architecture firm, Mozas Aguirre submitted a proposal to Vitoria-Gasteiz, 2012 European Green Capital, for a new interpretation of social housing that responds to the desire of residents to add an outdoor space to their homes.



The architects at Mozas + Aguirre came up with a new interpretation of Social Housing based on the concept of flexible homes and extensions towards outdoor spaces: four residential blocks on the hillsides of Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque country, housing 166 apartments. The orientation of the volumes follows the progression of the land and the staggered layout of the apartments, along with the slashes in the volumes give each apartment a view of Olárizu park.





High density housing estates often suffer from a lack of contact with the outdoors, to the detriment of the quality of living; that is not the case here, because each apartment has its own covered patio, which can be used as an outdoor living area, also encouraging community interaction.






The patio plays a specific part in the building’s energy footprint: in winter it allows natural light to flow inside and the room adjoining the patio heats up more rapidly thanks to the sun's warmth. Conversely, in summer the patios increase natural air flow inside, the communicating room blocks the heat from outside, so the rooms further away from the patio are cooler.



A Social Housing project aware of the needs of the residents and seeking to minimise the environmental impact of the whole estate.

Project: Eduardo Aguirre, Javier Mozas, http://www.mozasaguirre.com/
Year: 2012
Client: NASIPA SL
Site area: 11,293 m²
Total building area: 23,785m²
Other links: Vitoria-Gasteiz, European Green Capital http://www.floornature.com/blog/vitoria-gasteiz-european-green-capital-2012-7759/, Caja Vital Headquarters http://www.floornature.com/blog/caja-vital-headquarters-mozas+aguirre-arquitectos-7803/, A service station as infrastructure dialoguing with its surroundings, http://www.floornature.com/blog/a-service-station-as-infrastructure-dialoguing-with-its-surroundings-7923/