La Cartuja Community Residence for Students

La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo

LA CARTUJA COMMUNITY RESIDENCE FOR STUDENTS

Ana Lozano Atelier

CATEGORY
Apartments, Dorms, Residential

LOCATION
Granada, Spain

AREA
11386 m²

ARCHITECTS
Ana Lozano Atelier

YEAR
2020

PHOTOGRAPHS
Diego Opazo

MANUFACTURERS
Efapel, Kommerling, Saloni, Troll, Vescom, ASSABLOY, Archicad, Ideal Standard

LEAD ARCHITECT
Ana Lozano Portillo

CLIENT
Bristol Hill

ENGINEERING
Arys Diseño y Construcción

DESIGN TEAM
Sean Robert, María Conesa, Karol Wrona, Victor Sánchez, Andrés García, David Malagón, Ester García, Ana Pérez

The first time we visited the site, the spiritual retreat house of a religious community emerged from it. We climbed onto the roof of a four-story building with no protection other than a four-inch overhang on the perimeter and we were struck by the sight. From that eerie elevated, unprotected position, we seemed to dominate the entire valley.

La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo

Sierra Nevada, the Alhambra, the Cartuja, the red roofs of the building that dotted the urban area, the extensive plain...

That vision lead the project from the first sketches. How could we capture that immensity when raising such a large and resounding building, capable of housing the 419 rooms of the program? How to place an immense piece, so robust that it was able to resist any quake, and yet making it light, elegant, ephemeral ...

La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo

The views over the Granada city and valley were astonishing but also really challenged by a very aggressive sun bathing.

In order to avoid the impact of a 92m long and 6 storeys height, we shaped the project into a sort of three arms star, curving its footprint to smooth the perspectives.

La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo

The most exposed façade was designed using a cracked pattern allowing us to turn the windows off the flat line, and protecting them with long perforated scales.

Their function were to protect the windows from an overly aggressive afternoon sun without giving up the fascinating views.

It is presented as a tribute to Mozarabic architecture, so typical from Granada, so rich in its play of light and shadow.

The challenge was not to fall into a crude imitation, but to transcend the geometric catalog of Mudejar motifs without losing the force of the light filtered through the small holes.

La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo

Thus, a set of triangular perforations is intuited that, due to the need to adapt to the technical and structural requirements of the material, is finally defined by a small parametric algorithm of plastic genesis.

The result is a thousand buildings in one. It changes with the entire path of the sun, when the shadows create new patterns on the white cloths.

It shines like mother-of-pearl in the solar zenith and turns golden in the sunset.

La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo

And between one and the other, thousands of shapes like when you shake the crystals of a kaleidoscope.

Young people will surely be attracted to the pool… .That strange turquoise shape that invites you to swim from a soft ramp bathed by water. Like a beach.

La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
© Diego Opazo

The pristine white of the exterior contrasts with the warmth of the interiors. The rooms are dressed in blond wood and the social spaces are inspired by the bright colors of the typical Granada ceramics.


La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Elevation
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Elevation


La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Detail
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Detail


La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Section
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
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La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Plan
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Plan
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Plan
La Cartuja Community Residence for Students
Site Plan