Gloria Diagonal residential complex

Gloria Diagonal residential complex

The two volumes of the design are a response to its unique location, taking into account the volumetric and regulatory conditions and marking the arrival of Av. Diagonal in Plaça de les Glòries.

The proposal places the access between the two buildings, as a singular entrance occupying double space that acts as an articulating void, offering a welcome to the building, and favouring the transition between the public space and the residential accommodation.

Based on the classical values of composition and architectural language, the proposed building has a base, a shaft and a crown that makes it possible to structure the footing of the building and the upper crown of the volumes. This grouping also reflects the uses and different levels of privacy of the building.

• The base marks a plinth of equal height throughout the design, articulated from the ground plane through the public space. The spaces intended for access and economic activities are related to the public space, and the collective uses are linked to the residential accommodation on the upper levels.
• The shaft, intended for residential use, is the central body, in dialogue with the base and the crown. In it, a double skin is planned, generating an intermediate space typical of Mediterranean vernacular culture. This outer skin, in turn, is grouped by double-height modules that eliminate the stratification typical of high-rise residential buildings, ensuring that the language of the envelope acknowledges the urban scale of the immediate surroundings.
• In the capital or crown, the final levels and pergola configure the finish at the top by extending the façade, with double-height openings. This composition projects the image of a landmark building.

The building envelope is divided into two skins, generating an intermediate space between the outside and the inside, acting as a filter and membrane to protect the interior spaces and filter the external environmental conditions. The outer skin, made up of mobile louvred shutters, makes it possible to adapt the building to the external environmental conditions and ensures visual protection between different units, while controlling how much the domesticity of the building can be seen from the public space. The inner skin, on the other hand, forms the building's enclosure and ensures acoustic and thermal insulation, as well as keeping the envelope watertight.

The terraces between the two skins are an extension of the interior dwelling, offering a flexible, climate-controllable space protected from being seen from outside. The composition of the façade also allows there to be no terrace partitions between residential units and for the protection against casual viewing to be resolved by the outer skin. The louvred shutters, all fitted in the same direction, allow the permanent protection of the terraces from being seen from the outside, while leaving the opposite corner open for views of the city.