Developed by members of the Architectural Rehabilitation and Restoration (REARQ) research group and the Interdisciplinary Group on Building Science and Technology (GICITED) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), supported by Constraula Enginyeria i Obres SAU, the construction system consists of a wooden structure that adapts to facades and expands them creating new indoor and outdoor environments. 

The project aims to “improve the quality of housing and common spaces, and the appearance and the energy performance of residential areas, whose regeneration remains a challenge,” explains team leader Pere Joan Ravetllat, coordinator of the REARQ and a professor at the Barcelona School of Architecture (ETSAB). 

“Regenerar Barcelona” (Regenerating Barcelona) has been one of three proposals selected by the Barcelona City Council under a call for regenerating apartment blocks with innovative sustainable systems, which will be implemented over the coming months. The proposals will be tested as prototypes in buildings in the Barcelona neighbourhood of El Besòs i El Maresme for a year for the purpose of monitoring and validating them technically prior to large-scale implementation in Barcelona. 

An open and multi-use system
The Barcelona City Council called for projects to expand existing apartment blocks using innovative and sustainable systems. The solution by UPC researchers is a wooden portico and lattice structure that is attached to existing buildings and that improves, protects, repairs, re-equips and expands both homes and common spaces. Based on a self-supporting structure, this open system consists of a dry-mounted modular support that adapts to many uses and needs.

The structure is equipped with modular and removable elements and plug-in systems that adapt to different uses and can be reused according to specific needs. The main structure is then added the following bioclimatic systems: volume expansion kit, cistern kit, vegetation kit, photovoltaic kit and smart building kit. These elements improve living conditions, comfort and energy efficiency, and repair, protect and supply homes and buildings. On an urban scale, this structure also aims to improve the environmental and spatial qualities of public spaces and urban settings.

The researchers explain that “the system’s adaptability responds to multiple needs for expansion (common spaces, indoor and outdoor spaces, private spaces) and improvement of existing buildings using a bioclimatic facade. It also responds to differing needs and aspirations that the existing community may have.” The system allows “multiple uses to coexist due to the configuration of the space, the presence of multiple dynamic elements and materials, and the structure itself.”

The researchers remark the proposal’s “exemplary nature in environmental terms, considering how it is used, manufactured and installed, involving local, recyclable and reusable materials, and dry assembly, making it a fully removable system.” It also features dynamic systems and biodiversity elements to “regenerate an environmental and social microecosystem with benefits on a small and medium scale for residents, biodiversity and the urban area in which it is set.” They conclude that “its replicability and applicability in different contexts and urban settings in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and other similar urban areas make it suitable for transferring its potential for impact and improvement to a larger scale.”

Sustainable rehabilitation solutions
With the three industrialised construction systems selected, the Barcelona City Council aims to accelerate the sustainable rehabilitation and expansion of urban buildings, mainly in neighbourhoods undergoing rehabilitation or to revive residential areas from the 60s and 70s. It also aims to improve existing buildings in terms of comfort, living conditions and sustainability using low-carbon construction methods, which are affordable and contribute to decarbonising and reducing energy consumption. 

The challenge was launched by the BIT Habitat foundation with the Barcelona Municipal Institute of Urban Planning and the Urban Planning Department under the urban regeneration programme to find comprehensive solutions to promote rehabilitation using sustainable and innovative construction systems. The call provides funding of 100,000 to 150,000 euros to cover 80% of each project. The three winners were selected out of eight projects presented, which were conceived by a total of 29 entities: architecture companies, academic institutions, construction companies and innovation and research institutes.