Almada Housing – PLOT A – 2º Prize

PALLADIO

“If Nature does not lay the foundations, it will be a matter of craftsmanship to seek them out with art.” Andrea Palladio

There is very little choice: actually 99% of all houses are the same, but all people are different. There is great potential if we challenge ourselves to re-imagine this process as a whole. What if we could unleash the power of prefabrication and production in the way we build our homes? We can embrace modularity as a force for maximizing diversity, and we can create a system that adapts to people and the environment, not the other way around.

ALMADA

Located on the south bank of the Tagus River, Almada is a city with a privileged geographical position, taking into account the relationship it establishes with the territory and the surrounding water resources. Bordered by river and sea, it functions as a hinge area between the Tagus River/river mouth (to the north) and the Atlantic Ocean (to the west). Its rugged morphology elevates it to an extensive viewpoint over the city of Lisbon. Between the 1940s and 1970s, associated with the naval, weaving or milling industries, there is an increase in population and a large migratory flow due to the search for better employment and housing conditions, having become one of the most populous municipalities in Portugal, with about 118,000 inhabitants. The proximity to the city of Lisbon and the construction of the bridge over the Tagus in 1966 – which facilitated mobility between shores – was another relevant factor for the growth of Almada as a ‘dormitory town’ that offers other living conditions that compete with the capital. Currently, in the field of housing, the municipality of Almada presents a range of strategies that aim to enhance the rehabilitation of municipal housing, the supply of affordable rental housing and other urbanistic measures of sustainability in the access to housing.

CONTEXT

The intervention area is located in Quinta da Caneira, in Sobreda, inserted between two pre-existing buildings, in a mostly residential area, establishing a relationship at low elevation, to the south, with Rua Romeu Correia and at high elevation, to the north, with Rua Almerinda Correia. The immediate surroundings enjoy a cohesive network of infrastructures, including road and rail access, public transport such as buses, shopping and leisure areas. In Almada’s urban morphology it is evident that the growth in the peripheries is directly related to population migration and the consequent construction of housing and commercial complexes. In order to mitigate/dilute the discrepancy between the peripheries and the city center, the proposal should ensure the creation of alternative programs and spaces that encompass local communities, without segregating them from each other. The affordable rental program allows for the support of low-income social groups, improving the city’s housing standards. Thus, the redesign requested in this competition should not be reduced to simply adding a built volume in the designated area, but should contribute as a gesture that will contaminate the whole context, who occupies it in the present and who will integrate it in the future.

INTEGRATION AND CONSTRAINTS

The intervention’s evident concern will be to fill in the site’s empty lot, but with the concern of also rehabilitating the way the surrounding area is occupied. The proposal proposes to formally finish the set in which it is inserted, guaranteeing a volumetric cohesion. The new block appears as a transition between the two neighboring buildings. These buildings have a strong identity, but as they are inserted in an expectant context, it seems to be fundamental the concern to guarantee the stability of the urban sets and the viability of the social occupation of the public space, through a new logic of building, neutral but dynamic. Thus, the new block is a closing stone in the total vision of the built complex. The application proposes the construction of three inhabited floors, which by themselves do not allow for equalization with the neighboring heights. The proposal makes use of an additional floor by means of a sloping roof that mimics the surrounding forms. Since the adjacent streets have different hights, it seemed essential to address the different nature of the scale of the building at the two levels, as well as the typological accommodation to the topography, in the relationship with the public space, also understanding the transversal relationship of the accesses in contact with the surroundings. Realizing that the intervention approach can be by convergence or opposition, the proposal seeks to agglomerate these two visions by means of an active neutrality, of a dynamic passivity. It gives the motto of occupation, finding in rigidity the capacity to accommodate change.

FROM A MODULE TO A MULTIPLE

The logic of the building develops through the use of a single minimal volumetric unit (3,20×3,20m) that replicates, and unfolds in a way that conforms space and multiplies uses. The space between the two existing buildings is then occupied by a prefabricated structure that rationalizes this void. A rhythm of ten units is articulated to the surroundings. The void that results from this rhythm forms the basic module of the dwelling. The square, which is also repeated in the façade, is simultaneously window, balcony, and door. Within the apparent repetition, a sense of variation and familiarity is achieved, giving space to identity within rigidity. This “skeleton” is then wrapped by a casing that guarantees the comfort of the dwellings. This understanding of something that establishes structure and something that envelops, creates the possibility to define the internal spaces and the relation of continuity with the nearby surroundings by opening spans or voids in the building. At the upper elevation each entrance hall occupies a module, attached to a pathway with a more formal character, with a half floor relationship to the first apartment hall, while at the lower elevation the use of 4 modules is made accommodating also a space for storing bicycles, where the urban character is less formalized. If at the upper level we establish a clear relationship with Rua Almerinda Correia, on the lower level the exterior perception is dictated by the façade. Through a hollow block with perforations, the true scale of the interior storage is distorted, controlling the passage of light, proposing an intermediate translucent texture between full and empty. Above the foundation the various façade mechanisms begin to oppose each other. These make the use transparent, as a response to the internal characterization and occupation, by the users.

BOITE A MIRACLE

Le Corbusier defined the Bôite à Miracle as a box that contains everything we can imagine. The use of prefabrication allows, more than an economy of means, a rationalization of assembly and a structured relationship between each moment. The volumetric similarity between the environments allows this clarity to be transposed to the façade, making it easier to adapt the spaces and openings to the specific use required by the residents of each dwelling. Each void between the structure becomes part of a continuous space.

Our perception of prefabrication is one of unity and parity. Companies like IKEA shape our society by providing and designing our social structure. 98% of the people pictured in the IKEA catalog are young. 92% of them are blond. They are either children, or they are busy building families. Everything IKEA manufactures tends to transform the sphere of domesticity into a sunny, happy, apolitical space inhabited by satisfied, healthy young people. “Welcome, to the Independent Republic of your Home” as they say in their ads – creating a sense of home or family life. However, this can also be built in everyday life quite differently. We are not all healthy. Not all of us are young. Not all of us have ambitions to have children. There is, therefore, room to conceive life in a different way. Disobeying the IKEA injunction to contain social interactions within sunny apolitical domestic enclaves is what we propose as an urban notion of the domestic: not neutral, enclosed spaces, but flexible spaces that allow for accommodating the diversity and heterogeneity of contemporary ways of life and where affections can also emerge.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

The increase of temperature in cities and the presence of wind corridors created by the large size of buildings, the low humidity rate caused by the insufficient amount of trees and permeable green surfaces indicate us the importance of introducing vegetation in the urban environment.The planting of trees on streets is a strategy of urban regeneration, and ecologically the most evident effect on the microclimate is the shade. The trees absorb and reflect solar radiation in such a way that the diurnal and nocturnal temperature variations are significant compared to streets without trees. Thus, during the day the temperatures will be less hot, while the nights will be less cold. In the urban environment, spaces degrade more rapidly when there is an absence of vegetation cover. This condition makes the ground surface more sensitive to the impact of rain and wind. The presence of vegetation cover also contributes to the reduction of chemical pollutants, dust, among others. The foliage allows dust to “filter”, which is then carried to the ground by the rainwater. By preserving green spaces and having tree-lined streets, it is possible to reduce the volume of water from these rains, on the surface, reducing the risk of flooding. Aesthetically, the tree layer also has a fundamental role in the streets, adding color through flowers, leaves and trunks, increasing biodiversity and giving more life to the place, annulling the monotony of sidewalks and built structures.

ENGINEERING AND M&E PROJECT

With the entry into force of the REH (Regulation of Energy Performance of Residential Buildings, DL 101-D/2020, of December 7) and with the start of operation of the SCE (National System of Energy Certification and Indoor Air Quality in Buildings, DL 78/2006), it is intended to impose rules of efficiency to HVAC systems to improve their effective energy performance and ensure the means to maintain good indoor air quality, both at the project level, at the installation level, and during its operation, through proper maintenance. The proposed HVAC project seeks to favor centralized systems as a way to take advantage of economies of scale, and more energy-efficient solutions, including those using renewable energy-based systems, whenever economically feasible. The building will be certified by the National System for Energy and Indoor Air Quality Certification of Buildings (SCE), intending to obtain an energy rating of good quality, so that all efforts will be made to optimize the operation of systems and minimize any energy losses, both at the project level and through careful implementation of the installation and assembly of its equipment.

ADOPTED BIO-CLIMATIC SOLUTIONS

The thermal inertia of the buildings in question are characterized by a heavy thermal inertia. The attenuation of heat gains depends on the thermal mass of the building, i.e. the ability of the building’s envelope to store thermal energy, “heat”, which leads to a decrease in peak values of cooling loads and a mismatch between outside and inside temperatures. A building with a strong thermal inertia allows that in the summer season the heat peaks, coming from the outside envelope, can be out of phase with the peak occupancy of the building, being retained in the envelope itself and only released into the building at the end of the day. In this way a high thermal inertia, combined with a natural night ventilation, allows the removal of all the load on the building during the night. The air circulation contributes to the decrease of the indoor temperature and also to the removal of the sensible heat stored in the thermal mass, The openings should be placed in the south quadrant and in opposite locations to allow cross ventilation in order to reconcile the heating and cooling strategies. This type of solution allows for a high reduction in energy consumption for cooling, since it prevents most of the solar gains from immediately increasing the temperature of the interior spaces, thus reducing air conditioning consumption.

SOLAR PROTECTION/GLAZED AREAS

The proposed building will also be equipped with an external solar protection system, in the glazed areas, with an external shading screen, in order to reduce direct radiation into the interior of the building, thus avoiding an excessive increase of energy for cooling. The combination of the glazed spans with external solar protection still allows a good natural lighting of the interior spaces, drastically reducing the electricity consumption with lighting, and on the other hand avoiding unnecessary solar and internal gains in the cooling season. The strategically located glazed windows allow for good capture of solar gains in the heating season, resulting in a very interesting passive heating of the building.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

For the heating of the hot water, solar thermal panels associated with monoblock-type heat pumps will be provided. One system of this type will be installed per building unit. As a complement to the renewable energy system, it will also be proposed the installation of photovoltaic solar panels for the production of electricity to improve the energy rating and reduce electricity consumption.