Urban planning | Bioclimatic architecture |

Project
The Green Axis | Architecture
Location
Murcia, Spain.
Sector
Building and Urban Planning
Service
Architecture

Sub-service:
Architecture and Design: Urban Planning
Year
2020
Quick fact
Project in collaboration with Ignacio García and Marcos Álvarez

Bioclimatic architecture: The Green Axis, urban and architectural planning

The bioclimatic architecture project “The Green Axis”, in collaboration with Ignacio García-Marcos Álvarez, proposes an extension of the city along alarge vegetal axis. A contextual approach is adopted that better integrates the complex with its surroundings: the proposal proposes, through an adaptation of the construction lines, the materials and the colors of its context, a greater connection with the exterior nature.

This combination of elements turns the building facade into a living element that speaks with the environment, depending on the time of day, the lighting situation and the exposure to sun light. The building is somewhere between open and closed, light and heavy, bright and dark. In this way, it creates a connection between indoors and outdoors while providing the necessary privacy to spaces facing the street Inside the building, the boundaries between inside and outside are equally blurred.

THE BLOCKS:

The residential buildings are located around the green shaft, providing the inhabitants with large common areas of parks, gardens and public space. The distance between buildings provides increased luminosity to all houses and wide views of the gardens. Despite being a new extension of the city, the sequence of buildings varies in size, shape and use and integrates well with current neighbourhoods.

THE FACADES:

The composition of the multi-layered facade of the standard building has several elements strategically placed with the aim of achieving bioclimatic architecture and almost zero energy. The dark glass elements covered by planters, the balconies, terraces and the façade movementplay with the residents’ perception of their surroundings and work with seemingly irreconcilable contradictions.

THE HOUSES:

The different residential blocks feature a variety of house types and sizes of apartments. The simple structure of the buildings gives the inhabitants freedom to design spaces, adapting them to the needs that arise as they live in the house.

The houses, from the largest units to the smallest apartments, have great dimensions, which seem larger because of the extensive views to the outside. Floor-to-ceiling windows are placed in living rooms, dining rooms, or kitchens to provide more radiance and a greater connection to the outside. The sliding windows in the bedrooms do not extend all the way to the floor, giving these areas more privacy. Each house also includes access to a private outdoor area (either a balcony, terrace, garden, or rooftop garden).

COMMON AREAS:

The ground floors of the buildings are intended for both commercial and community areas. In the latter case, the spaces under the housing blocks remain mostly open-plan and are partially occupied by the main access ladders, lifts and parking spaces for bicycles and vehicles. In addition, semi-private gardens and sports facilities are planned in many of the community areas.

The aim of the project is to add a futuristic and bioclimatic extension to the city, without neglecting the customs and aesthetics of the current surroundings. An intervention is proposed at several levels, from the territorial, landscape and urban planning to the design of flexible houses for families with children, adolescents, or singles.