The teacher’s brief was to propose a renewal in a complex inside a block located in Madrid. Specifically, in Atocha neighborhood, behind the Herzog & Demeuron Museum, the Caixaforum. The site was a densely populated scene. The strategy of the project was to create an open courtyard to diminish population density, and allow natural light to be brought into the apartments. The scheme comprises three separate buildings with a mixed-use development such as public space, apartments, and shops.

The east building on the square is eight storeys high. The volume is designed to keep the structure of the original construction. The facade is principally made of full-height sliding wood panels covered with plants, that open up to the courtyard, and besides bringing natural light into the apartments, allow temperature control. Concrete is used in the pierced blocks structure, as it was in the original building. This material in each storey of the edifice provides the idea of the strong horizontal line. The rehabilitation consisted in creating different partitions, so there could be new double-height apartments. There are three accesses in the square. The east one allows pedestrian walking into the main courtyard’s shops of the first and ground floor. The south and west ones are more private for those who live in the building. The nursery is situated at the ground level, and above it there are residences and stores. The roof includes leisure activities.

There is not a typical floor building because each storey contains a different number of apartments. The existing service cores were eliminated and the project includes two ramps along the building. The apartments range from one to four bedrooms, including a few duplex. The floor also includes one multi-functional room located in different positions in each storey. These two facts create a varied elevation in each block avoiding the idea of a typical block, even maintaining the same facade.