Hierbabuena Housing

Location Madrid (Spain)
Client Impacto Cero
Year 2023
Status Completed-Built
Typology Residential
Photography Clara Capdevila
Team Fermín Vázquez, Pedro Baltar, Gustavo Gaudeoso, Carlos Beizaga

The building is located in Tetuán, one of the long-established neighbourhoods in the capital that has had a strong boost positioning itself as an emerging neighbourhood after the confirmation of important projects such as the Chamartín Plan and the reform of Azca.

The programme consists of 8 dwellings, with their respective storage rooms, and 5 parking spaces. The basement floor houses the building’s installations, the private storage rooms for the flats and a laundry room. The open-plan ground floor houses the entrance and the parking spaces. The dwellings are on the upper floors, with the top floor having a setback that allows the creation of spacious private terraces for the two penthouses. The flats are permeable to both façades, therefore allowing cross ventilation and improving comfort.

For its materiality, the “Passive House” criteria of sustainability have been followed, thus minimising the environmental impact. The structure and building envelope from the first floor to the roof are made of CLT (Cross Laminated Timber), which allows a considerable improvement in assembly times.

Facing Hierbabuena Street, a ventilated façade is planned, composed of carbonised wood panels, anchored in 125mm CLT structural wood panels. Large openings are cut out to maximise the gain of light into the interior of the dwellings, with carpentry of varnished pinewood joinery with triple glazing and metal fittings. The access doors to the property (pedestrian and vehicle) are made of deployé, in accordance with the host envelope.