The project located in the Retiro district, in a strategic enclave between Atocha station and El Retiro park. The intervention seeks to act as a connecting piece between these two emblematic places and, at the same time, respond to an increasingly pressing social issue.

Madrid is experiencing severe residential tensions that particularly affect young people and the elderly, but the challenge is challenge only economic. Dependency, loss of active roles, and unwanted loneliness are increasing among the elderly, while many young people suffer from isolation and a lack of support networks. Against this backdrop, the project intergenerational co-living that promotes meeting and mutual care, where coexistence is based on the direct relationship between nature and architecture. Community gardens, parks, and learning spaces are integrated as a support for the transmission of knowledge, shared living, and leisure, reinforcing the physical and emotional well-being associated with intergenerational relationships in green environments.

The intervention is organized into two complementary areas. On the one hand, the terrain is adapted by means of a system of accessible ramps that create a continuous path to the upper platform, accompanied by landscaped slopes that transform the topography into a habitable landscape. On the other hand, the building is raised to create a threshold between the main street and the rear garden, functioning as an entrance gate entrance an urban transition piece. This activates a physical and visual connection with the green space not only for residents but also for the city.

The proposal transforms the slope into a pathway designed with native vegetation to stabilize the slopes and create areas for relaxation. A "water line" accompanies the path, irrigating a cultivated strip through lateral filtration and reinforcing the sensory link with the environment. This strip is related to the roof gardens, consolidating the continuity between a productive and contemplative landscape that connects the everyday with the natural.

Access to the building is from Paseo de la Infanta Isabel. Two large pillars house the communication hubs. In the basement, there are two multipurpose rooms for public use next to the facilities, lit by skylights integrated into the exterior flooring. The first floor houses the common areas (rehabilitation and gym, coworking space, communal dining room, conference room conference room , and laundry room). The upper floors contain the apartments, which are organized in a north-south orientation to promote cross ventilation and a flexible layout of rooms of similar sizes, with the wet areas located in the center. On the roof, a greenhouse and community gardens complete the complex, intended both for self-consumption and for agricultural workshops open to the city.

Circulation is resolved by means of an open exterior gallery that provides access to the dwellings and creates periodic living spaces, encouraging meeting coexistence. Three types of dwellings are developed: minimal housing for one person (with the possibility of exchange between living room and bedroom), housing for two people (extension of a module), and housing for three (transformation of the living room into a bedroom and split bathroom to facilitate use). 

The south façade, with folding wooden shutters, creates a dynamic and adaptable image that allows for solar and light control.

More projects