The Barcelona City Council has officially kicked off the new public housing development carried out through industrialised construction, which is located in Lola Iturbe Arizcuren Street, in the district of Sant Martí. A start-up for a development that will consist of 40 public rental housing units and premises for a future facility, and the construction works for which began at the end of last November, with the completion date scheduled for the first quarter of 2024.

The project, by architects Vicente Guallart and Daniel Ibáñez, is part of the Barcelona City Council’s commitment to the use of industrialised construction, a more innovative, cheaper, faster and more ecological technique that is gradually being implemented in new social housing developments in the city.

To see firsthand what this development will look like, we invite you to enjoy the 3D tour created for the occasion, where you can discover the interiors of the house.

Access the tour through this link!

In the case of the building on Lola Iturbe Arizcuren St., it will consist of a ground floor and eight more floors, as well as a flat roof floor where the solar greenhouse for food self-production is located. It also stands out for its energy efficiency, rated A, which will have cross ventilation. In addition, the choice of low environmental impact materials, such as rock wool on the facades, as well as a laminated wood structure, is also relevant. In addition to the solar greenhouse, the terraces of the building will be planted with vegetation, as will the roof.

Another highlight of this development is the fact that it has been tendered with a project and work typology, which means that the construction company and the team of architects will work together from the very beginning, thus, shortening the completion time of the building.

The official start of the project was marked by a ceremony, held at the same site where the building will be erected, where the first stone was symbolically laid, and which was led by the Councilor for Housing and Rehabilitation of the Barcelona City Council, Lucía Martín, as well as the manager of the Municipal Institute for Housing and Rehabilitation of Barcelona (IMHAB), Gerard Capó.

A district in full housing development

In addition to this one of Lola Iturbe Arizcuren St., Sant Martí has three more projects already underway, a fact that makes this district a reference for industrialized construction in the city, as well as public housing promotion. In this sense, from 2015 to the present day, 526 housing units and 20 temporary housing units have been completed in this district alone, while 287 housing units and 57 housing units are currently under construction, in addition to 206 housing units planned to be erected.

In added to the construction of new buildings, the Barcelona City Council has and applies other mechanisms to expand the public housing stock, such as the purchase and mobilization of housing from the private market for social rental. And, in this regard, from June 2015 to this October, they account for a total of 1,367 homes, from the sum of 240 homes purchased individually and 946 homes from 44 entire estates acquired.