The building of 140 homes with social rents and rents with services for the elderly at C/ Veneçuela, 96, Barcelona, won an award in the sustainable new buildings category of the eleventh annual awards for good practice by the Spanish Association of Promotors of Public Housing and Land (AVS).
This block of homes with social rents brings together two strategies that characterise energy sustainability, earning this award by the AVS. The first is the bioclimate atrium, which in the winter harnesses power from the sun and acts as a thermal cushion, helping to increase temperatures inside the homes by ten degrees. In the summer, the atrium acts as a solar chimney, increasing the speed of the air and cutting the thermal sensation by three degrees.
The other strategy that stands out in this building in terms of energy sustainability is its structure, built with prefabricated concrete pieces. This optimises construction and cuts the amount of concrete per square metre, reducing the building’s CO2 emissions as a result.
The award-winning building, promoted by the IMHAB and the work of a joint venture by architectural teams from Peris + Toral Arquitectes and Eletresjota Tècnics Associats, is located between the streets of Josep Pla and Agriculture and the newly created Passatge del Treball. The building is the biggest to be constructed in the district of Sant Martí in the last few years and was handed over at the end of 2024. It includes 60 homes with services for the elderly, 76 homes with social rents and 15 accommodation units.
Special mentions for the Lola Iturbe and Botella buildings
Besides the award for the block at Veneçuela, 96, two other projects promoted by the Barcelona Municipal Institute for Housing and Renovation (IMHAB) received special mentions in the AVS awards.
The first was the building in C/ Lola Iturbe Arizcuren, also in the district of Sant Martí, which got a special mention in the new sustainable building category for the “Terrasses per a la vida” industrialised construction project. The work of the architects Vicente Guallart and Daniel Ibáñez, this project includes 40 homes with social rents and is characterised by its laminated wooden structure, as well as the use of other materials with a low environmental impact. Also worth noting are the building’s balconies and the crossable rooftop, which has a solar greenhouse for cultivating food.
For its part, the building in C/ Botella, in El Raval, got a special mention in the category for the renovation of heritage buildings in line with the new European Bauhaus. This 18th century building, listed as historical and artistic heritage, has eleven protected homes and four offices. The renovation project by the IMHAB improved the structure and energy efficiency of the building, as well as recovering the baroque sgraffiti on the façade.
The AVS awards we given in a gala, held this year at Palo Alto in Barcelna and coinciding with the FHAR 2025 (Barcelona Housing and Renovation Forum).