For Aprop, a program run by the municipal administration, they used the containers to create 12 temporary apartments for individuals who recently lost a place to live. In order to respond quickly to increased demand it was necessary to develop a construction system that allowed simple and rapid assembly and disassembly for new deployment in a new configuration. In collaboration with the municipality they designed a residential building in the Gothic Quarter, the oldest part of the Catalan capital. Located on a corner property delineated by two fire walls, it represents the first building of the program. Previously the area was used as an extension of an adjacent public space.
A steel structure serves to stack twelve shipping containers across four floors. A further container on the roof contains all mechanical equipment. The twist-lock system commonly used on freight ships, trains and trucks to keep containers in place connects the modules with each other and the structure. The columns and beams of the structure permit creating an open plan layout on the ground floor. Currently a health provider located nearby uses the space as an extension to its existing facility. From the first floor upward each floor features two one-room apartments and one two-room apartment. The smaller units cover roughly 30 square metres and are intended for singles and couples. They fit into a single container. The two-room apartments offer 60 square metres for families of up to four members. For this purpose the architects joined two containers together. Along the south-eastern facade, oriented towards a small interior courtyard with a staircase tower and elevator shaft, the modules feature balcony access made of reinforced concrete. The north-western facade features narrow loggias with vertical full-height openings that afford occupants a view towards a small square. Each apartment borders at least two exterior walls, enabling cross ventilation. Additional daylight enters the two-room apartments through windows along the south-eastern facade. On the container interiors walls are clad in gypsum board panels with white paint finish. Floors are covered in linoleum.
A double layer facade with an exterior polycarbonate panel layer and timber-framed openable flaps adopts the building line of the neighbouring structures and helps the temporary building fit into the historic context of the city. The interior facade layer hides the container exteriors behind weather-proof gypsum board panels and sheet metal sandwich panels.
The designers created an innovative and sustainable modular building that can be disassembled and moved to a new location to be assembled anew. Their work successfully exemplifies building with modern materials in an historic context.
Building along narrow alleys
The site in the historic core of Barcelona posed two challenges to the construction process and foundation work: Difficult soil conditions and narrow, lively alleys.
A swampy site, artificially infilled with different types of clay prevalent in many parts of the city and a high groundwater table required deep foundations. Due to the proximity of neighbouring structures this work had to be undertaken with a minimum of noise and vibrations. In order to avoid excessive earthworks typically required to create the necessary floor slab the architects opted for a minimally invasive type of foundation based on micropiles. A sensible solution for constrained site conditions, they can be created with relatively small and lightweight drills.
Only narrow and highly frequented alleys offered construction trucks and machinery access to the site. Prefabrication of almost all construction components in a workshop enabled the planners to keep the on-site construction time short. This helped avoid traffic disturbances and the use of a large tower crane. Right after the foundation work was completed in August of 2019 the structure for the ground floor area was assembled. A transporter with a mobile crane delivered the containers, completed to 85 percent, including prefabricated ductwork. A central service module on the roof bundles all ductwork for building services. Twist-lock connectors serve to connect the containers to each other and the structure. For this purpose the standardized corner hardware of the containers is interlocked by turning it 90 degrees. The basic structure was completed in two days, permitting subsequent assembly of access balconies and loggias that support the exterior facade layer made of polycarbonate panels. In December of 2019 and after only four months the residents were able to move into their new apartments.
