Country/Region: Madrid

Aldea Vertical, Madrid

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Aldea Vertical, Madrid

Mismatches Vulnerable groups
Urban Design Quality Liveability
Promotion and production Public promotion

Main objectives of the project

In the midst of Madrid's housing crisis, characterized by soaring property prices and a shortage of affordable options, resilient social housing initiatives, such as the project spearheaded by the Madrid City Council through the EMVS, are challenging the pressures of gentrification. This vertical village of 85 social housing units represents a beacon of hope, offering dignified contemporary housing at regulated prices. Comprising a mix of ownership and rental units, the project accommodates diverse family structures and promotes social and family diversity through temporary rotations. Embodying innovative design elements, such as geometric setbacks and ceramic lattice systems, the project fosters community cohesion while providing residents with spaces for interaction and engagement, reminiscent of traditional village life, within the urban landscape.

Date

  • 2020: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: Empresa Municipal de la Vivienda y Suelo.
  • Architect: llps arquitectos

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid, Spain

Description

Madrid is currently grappling with a severe housing crisis, marked by skyrocketing property prices and a significant shortage of affordable housing options. This crisis exerts immense pressure on the city's most vulnerable populations, leading to widespread gentrification that displaces long-standing residents in favor of high-income newcomers. In response to these challenges, resilient social housing projects are emerging, aimed at countering the adverse effects of the free-market housing boom and ensuring that even the most disadvantaged individuals have access to dignified, contemporary housing.

In an urban landscape where gentrification often displaces the most disadvantaged, a resilient social housing project promoted by the Madrid City Council through the EMVS stands firm against the pressures of free-market housing growth. This initiative offers dignified contemporary housing for the most needy at regulated, affordable prices, despite the complexity of constructing a 17-floor vertical tower.

At the intersection of pedestrian public space and railway infrastructure, a vertical village of 85 social housing units rises from a textured concrete base. This tower complements the EMVS's social housing blocks, featuring a mix of ownership and rental units to support a diverse range of family structures, including numerous, multi-nuclear, single-parent, and single-person households, facilitating temporary rotations and enhancing social and family diversity.

The imposing white volume, adhering to geometric setback regulations on the upper floors, faces north with a smooth surface punctuated by a systematic array of square openings corresponding to bedroom scales. This design conceptually ties Horizon-Ground and Horizon-Sky, breaking down the urban scale of neighboring buildings and providing an enriching spatial reference through its abstract form.

In contrast, the southern elevation features a complex arrangement of setbacks and depths with ceramic lattice systems, offering protection from summer sun and heat while allowing light in during winter. This depth system incorporates diagonal spaces traversing the entire block, enabling residents to engage with their surroundings at various scales—territorial through horizontal views, urban through transverse visions, and communal through integrated terraces.

The project revives the idea of a primordial neighborhood, fostering a sense of community through interconnected spaces that facilitate neighborly interactions in all directions: diagonal, vertical, and horizontal. This concept of vertical streets within the urban alignment plane encourages encounters and relationships among residents, reminiscent of the German Siedlungen or Viennese Höfe, but with an enhanced focus on interrelation. Outdoor terrace spaces serve as communal meeting points, allowing residents to engage with their neighbors, akin to villagers sitting at their doorsteps, thus promoting crucial social interaction, especially significant during times of confinement.

Links

Authors:

CSCAE Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España

Centro sociocomunitario de la Cañada Real, Spain

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Centro sociocomunitario de la Cañada Real, Spain

Mismatches Location Cultural suitability Diversity Vulnerable groups
Urban Design Services and infrastructure Quality Liveability Inclusion Participatory processes
Promotion and production Innovation Favelas/Slums

Main objectives of the project

La Cañada Real, an informal settlement in Madrid (Spain), faces major social, economic and housing challenges. The community and the city council, after two failed attempts, succeeded in implementing a socio-community center through a public-social co-management project. This project involved more than 1,200 people, including minors, social entities, a penitentiary and universities, in a participatory construction process. Although not focused on housing, the center improves the livability of the neighborhood, encourages self-building and revitalizes the community, making the area more dignified and livable.

Date

  • 2019: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Santiago Cirugeda
  • Architect: Recetas Urbanas

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid, Spain

Description

La Cañada Real is a slum settlement on the outskirts of Madrid, following the ancient transhumant route of "la Cañada", which encompasses a 15 km long area of shantytowns. The social, economic and housing challenge in this area is enormous, with most residents living in self-managed constructions and without access to electricity. In addition, they lack community centers for training and assistance. For these reasons, this project was launched. Although it does not focus on housing, it offers opportunities to improve the livability of the neighborhood and help its residents to progress, making possible a different "living" than the one that existed before the project.

Faced with the urgency of intervening in the Cañada Real, the largest informal settlement in Spain, the community and the city council of Madrid collaborated and drew up specifications for "the joint contracting of the supply, assembly and drafting of technical documents necessary for the implementation of a non-permanent housing structure". The tender was unsuccessful on two occasions. We applied for the third call, already known for another public project carried out in Madrid, although not yet legalized, with the experience and the intention of involving and taking care of the largest number of direct or indirect users of the future social facility.

The methodology starts by approaching the surrounding educational centers, where most of the minors who live in the Cañada Real are located. In addition, house-to-house visits are made to all the families in the sector where the project is located. We also invite social entities and neighborhood associations to participate, as well as the new entities that are being formed. Knowing that there are neighbors deprived of liberty (also future users), we decided to collaborate with those who are in the Soto del Real penitentiary center, where, as in other spaces, slabs, walls, trusses, roof panels and window boxes are prefabricated, which will later be assembled at the official construction site. For all these reasons, our construction site sign reads: "All persons not involved in the construction work are allowed to enter".

That more than 1,200 people, including some 600 minors, 17 social entities, 1 penitentiary, 3 universities and many volunteers, are part of the participatory construction protocol of the socio-community center, does not leave the Recetas Urbanas team indifferent. It is the first experiment with a new public-social co-management regulation.

All the social clauses that this methodology implements - and that were not in the original technical specifications - make this project much more surprising and risky. It is important to mention that the process has been accompanied by technicians from the different administrations involved, who have made up for this initial lack in the drafting of the project bases, collaborating and providing solutions with a perfect understanding of the needs and morphological changes of the project (as happened, for example, with the increase of built square meters and the involvement of users in the work).

The different actors have understood the need for public-social co-management, passing through a shared and creative technical resolution by both parties. Finally, thanks to the impetus and the desire to participate, we obtained two workshops of 45 m² and one of 30 m², a community space of 70 m² and 90 m² of self-sufficient offices and bathrooms, all this without increasing the budget. Part of the success is due to the reuse of materials, including those from Madrid's municipal warehouses.

Although it is not a housing intervention, the construction of this socio-community center in Cañada Real makes it possible to "inhabit" a place that is often uninhabitable. The meeting between neighbors and community action improves the neighborhood, teaches self-building techniques and makes the neighborhood more alive and dignified.

Links

Authors:

CSCAE Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España

Las Carolinas-Entrepatios, Madrid

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Las Carolinas-Entrepatios, Madrid

Mismatches Location Price Functional adequacy Services Diversity New family structures
Urban Design Modelos De Ciudad Environments Quality Liveability Inclusion Participatory processes
Promotion and production Private promotion Materials Self-management Self-promotion Cooperatives
Ownership and tenure Shared ownership

Main objectives of the project

Las Carolinas-Entrepatios is the first ecological building with right of use in Spain that has been built between the centre of Madrid and the suburbs. It is a cohousing project, which means that it is the neighbours, members of the cooperative, who, through a participatory decision-making process, have decided on everything from the ecological materials to be used in the construction of the building to what part of the budget will be allocated to the insulation of the building and the type of air conditioning, among other things. Communal spaces make up 15% of the building: a communal courtyard; a room that serves as a children’s play area and as a space for weekly food distribution; a garage with mainly bicycles; a room dedicated to housing a large cistern where rainwater is collected, treated and used for toilets and gardening, by drip; a workshop room where neighbours work with their hands; a communal laundry; and a rooftop dedicated to adult leisure. The child population accounts for almost half of the total, some twenty children between the ages of two and twelve. Las Carolinas cooperative is made up of the fifty-three people who live in its seventeen dwellings. Depending on the size of their dwelling, they have paid between 40,000 and 50,000 euros as a down payment, an amount that will be returned if they leave the cooperative and replaced by those who move in. The ownership of the building remains in the hands of the cooperative and its members use the homes, but never own them.

Date

  • 2020: Construction
  • 2016: En proceso

Stakeholders

  • Promotor: Entrepatios
  • Architect: Lógica’Eco
  • Architect: TécnicaEco
  • Architect: sAtt

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid, Spain

Description

A few meters from the Manzanares River, in the neighborhood of Carolinas, in Orcasur (Usera), stands the first right-to-use collaborative housing building in the city of Madrid. This project, focused on environmental and community sustainability, has been conceived as a building with its own energy production and a very low energy demand, housing a community based on mutual support. The Las Carolinas development consists of 17 homes, inhabited by 32 adults and 20 children.

Usera, where this innovative building is located, is a peripheral municipality of Madrid that has faced social challenges, including difficulties of access to housing. Emerging from an active neighborhood movement, this project represents a radical, anti-speculative and accessible solution that integrates with the local community. In contrast to the dynamics of marginalization and privatization that have affected the neighborhood, the Entrepatios initiative aims to create inclusive spaces that strengthen the community fabric.
The system used involves a group of people forming a cooperative, which acquires the land and constructs the building. However, the residents do not own the land; instead, they only have the right to use the building as part of the cooperative. This approach prioritizes the use value of the building over land value speculation, offering a solution against gentrification and dispossession.

Since the acquisition of the site in 2016, the cooperative has navigated various forms of participation in the management of the process, with the collaboration of Lógica'Eco for technical aspects and the architectural design by the sAtt studio and TécnicaEco. Funding came from ethical banking and donations. The building, located on an elongated south-facing site, consists of 17 apartments with access through an outdoor corrala, which serves as a circulation and meeting space. Common spaces include first floor and attic space for various community activities, as well as a small workshop in the basement and a common laundry room.

In keeping with its commitment to climate change mitigation and resident comfort, the building prioritizes energy efficiency and comfort, especially in summer, through quality insulation and renewable energy generation. The garden is drip-fed, a rainwater cistern is provided for water savings, and the materials used prevent the release of volatile organic materials. A wooden structure is used. In order to have clean air, we will have a double-flow controlled mechanical ventilation system, which will prevent pollutants from entering from the outside thanks to a filter. This initiative seeks to reduce energy demand and promote a more sustainable lifestyle in a city increasingly affected by heat. The project has been certified with ECOMETRO and has been designed with high energy efficiency standards, incorporating renewable technologies such as solar panels on the roof.

The Entrepatios building is proof of the possibility of housing that is free from speculation, resilient to climate change, and fosters cooperative and communal living in a vulnerable neighborhood of a large metropolis.

Links

Authors:

CSCAE Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España

Móstoles fight against homelessness

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Móstoles fight against homelessness

Mismatches Vulnerable groups
Policies and regulations Local policies Global frameworks Data and monitoring

Main objectives of the project

The city of Móstoles in Spain, with a population of 205,614, stands as a compelling example of the proactive measures taken by local authorities worldwide to address housing challenges. Situated in the southern metropolitan area of Madrid, Móstoles, like many neighboring municipalities, endured severe repercussions from the enduring economic downturn that began in 2008. With a predominantly working-class population, the city faced a pressing housing crisis marked by escalating evictions and a rise in homelessness. In response, Móstoles initiated a multifaceted strategy aimed at ameliorating the situation and safeguarding the right to housing. This comprehensive approach encompasses a spectrum of initiatives, ranging from providing direct assistance to families facing eviction to actively promoting social housing and advocating for the rights of the homeless population.

Date

  • 2016: Implementation

Stakeholders

  • Móstoles municipality

Location

Country/Region: Madrid, Spain

Description

Móstoles, situated in the southern periphery of Madrid, predominantly comprises a working-class demographic, with an average per capita income of 19,000 euros, notably lower than Madrid's average of 30,000 euros. The lingering effects of the economic downturn have exacerbated social and economic disparities, reflected in the surge of users accessing municipal social services from 8,000 before the crisis to 25,000 in 2017. This crisis has particularly impacted the most vulnerable segments of our population, with homelessness emerging as a stark manifestation of social exclusion.

To address this pressing issue, Móstoles has fortified its existing services, including shelters, and in 2016, established a community center providing nighttime shelter—a rarity in the southern metropolitan area of Madrid. Additionally, the city has implemented a successful Housing First strategy and expanded its "emergency apartments" stock by nearly 100 units.

Two key innovations have been introduced to tackle homelessness head-on. Firstly, the creation of the "Office for the Right to Housing" aims to prevent evictions and homelessness. This office serves two primary functions: facilitating connections between housing issues and municipal social services, including the provision of emergency financial aid, and offering legal services to negotiate with various stakeholders to halt evictions and seek resolutions for those affected by financial speculation. The objective here is to stop evictions in our city or reaching agreements that will free people who have been victims of financial speculation, such as moratorium agreements, payment dams or debt forgiveness.

The second innovation is the adoption of the Homeless Bill of Rights, positioning Móstoles as one of the few cities pioneering such initiatives. A multidisciplinary team monitors the daily experiences of homeless individuals, ensuring their rights are upheld. Administrative flexibility has been introduced to enable homeless individuals to access essential services by facilitating their registration. In Spain, you need to be registered in a house to have access to many social services. For this reason, they have facilitated homeless people access to this registry regardless of their housing situation. Collaborative efforts with social agents aim to raise awareness and engage citizens in addressing homelessness.

Through these measures, Móstoles underscores the importance of prioritizing housing issues. Despite budgetary constraints, the city has demonstrated how strategic policy implementation can prevent a housing emergency from escalating into a social crisis.

It is important to mention that the policies have allowed us to have more data on the situation of homelessness in Móstoles. This allows us to improve future care, innovating in future actions.

Links

Authors:

CSCAE Consejo Superior de los Colegios de Arquitectos de España

Celosia, Social Housing

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Celosia, Social Housing

Financing
Urban Design
Promotion and production
Ownership and tenure

Main objectives of the project

This social housing apartment building is located in PAU de Sanchinarro, a new neighbourhood situated on the northeast edge of Madrid. Blocks of eight houses are seen as separate prefabricated units, which are positioned in a checkerboard pattern next to and on top of each other, leaving openings for communal gardens in between.

Date

  • 2009: Construction

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Nathalie de Vries
  • Architect: Jacob van Rijs
  • Architect: Winy Maas
  • Architect: Blanca Lleó

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid, Spain

Description

The opening of the European borders has caused a real estate boom in Spain. The value has been in¬creased enormously, thus leading to an enormous production of housing. This operation is facilitated in Madrid by a giant new neighborhood that sur¬rounds the old city. A series of new cities that are mainly constructed of blocks that surround a pri¬vate patio, with a more or less introverted archi¬tecture with small windows, somehow opposes the extraverted Spanish culture.

In PAU de Sanchinarro, one of these new cities, situated on the northeast edge of Madrid, two plots are given to develop a possible “escape” from the uniformity and claustrophobia of this “sea of six-story-high blocks.”

The first escape’ in this neighborhood was the Sanchinarro Mirador (2005): an apartment build¬ing in which a huge void on the 15th floor offered an open view to the surrounding mountains and over the new neighborhood.

The second escape has been created by an “open¬ing” a given block on all levels. Blocks of eight houses are seen as separate prefabricated fig¬ures. They are positioned in a checkerboard pat¬tern next to and on top of each other in such a way that they leave openings for communal gardens in between. A perforated block appears, in which shadow and ventilation compensate for the strong climatic constraints. It creates views from the street through the building. It creates views from the houses to the surrounding area. It defends against the claustrophobic conditions of the existing developments

Authors:

Fundació Mies van der Rohe Barcelona

Orcasitas Settlement

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Orcasitas Settlement

Financing Public funding Sustainable development financing
Urban Design Environments Quality Liveability Inclusion Equity Regulación Técnica Participatory processes

Main objectives of the project

Improving energy efficiency and comfort in buildings and housing

Date

Stakeholders

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid, Spain

Description

The case of the Poblado Dirigido de Orcasitas is one of these good examples. Thanks to the impetus of the Guetaria Neighbourhood Association of the Poblado Dirigido and the strong commitment and leadership of its president, Manuela Navarro, 107 blocks of flats and 62 single-family houses are immersed in an interesting refurbishment process with the aim of improving their energy efficiency.
Fifty buildings have already been completely refurbished, 16 are currently under construction and the rest are awaiting the start of work, which in all cases will be carried out with European aid and subsidies (Next Generation funds) and from Madrid City Council. 3,127 families in this poor neighbourhood in the south of Madrid will benefit from this urban transformation, improving their quality of life and reducing energy-related costs. So far, 1,640 families have already benefited.

Today, the Poblado Dirigido de Orcasitas has become the first near-zero energy neighbourhood in Spain. Thanks to the mobilisation of the neighbours, the works undertaken to remove parapets, asbestos and install thermal insulation have achieved a 58% reduction in CO2 emissions. Of course, they have also improved the energy rating of the properties from E to C, with a corresponding increase in the value of the homes as a result of the improvements.
In addition to the comfort gained in the properties, which maintain a constant temperature of 19 degrees inside, residents report significant savings on their energy bills as a result of the refurbishment work.

Between 60 and 70% of these works have been subsidised by the Madrid City Council, while the remaining 30% have been financed by credit institutions, a channel specialised in refurbishment and rehabilitation of UCI (Unión de Créditos Inmobiliarios), an entity specialised in sustainable housing financing.

Links

Authors:

AHA Affordable Housing Activation

REGENERACIÓN URBANA DE UN BARRIO COMPLETO DE MADRID

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REGENERACIÓN URBANA DE UN BARRIO COMPLETO DE MADRID

Main objectives of the project

Se trata de un caso de regeneración urbana integral, es decir, en el cual se aúna la rehabilitación de las edificaciones con le regeneración de los espacios libres degradados para reactivar la actividad en el barrio, mejorando la afección y vinculación al mismo de sus habitantes.

Date

Stakeholders

Location

City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid, Spain

Description

El barrio del Aeropuerto, en el Distrito de Barajas, se trata de un barrio donde conviven diferentes usos, predominando en un 60% del residencial, con manzanas ocupadas por edificios de tipología de bloque abierto, de tres o cinco alturas con amplias zonas ajardinadas; mientras que para el sector terciario existen superficies destinadas a equipamientos y al sector servicios modernos edificios destinados a uso de oficinas o el sector hotelero, además de naves industriales.

Se construye en los años 60, en base a un anteproyecto redactado en 1958 por el arquitecto D. Luis Martínez Lebrato y amparado por el Plan de Urgencia Social de Madrid en el año 1957 que permitía la construcción en todo el ámbito del Plan General con la condición de efectuar una cesión del 35% del suelo. El área ocupa una superficie de 5,7 Ha., tiene una población aproximada de 1.500 habitantes (con una densidad media de 263 hab/ha.) y se caracteriza por ser un área homogénea en cuanto a tipologías edificatorias y sistemas constructivos. El conjunto está integrado por 34 bloques, con 567 viviendas.

En origen, era una barriada alejada del centro de Madrid donde el alcantarillado estaba incompleto en la mayoría de las calles y los residentes tenían que utilizar el arroyo de Rejas, que circulaba al descubierto, hasta que el Ayuntamiento lo enterró como consecuencia de unas riadas. El alumbrado público se instaló en 1969; las goteras y las grietas eran causa de desalojos de urgencia.

Authors:

PROMOCIÓN DE VIVIENDAS LA ROSILLA 4

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PROMOCIÓN DE VIVIENDAS LA ROSILLA 4

Main objectives of the project

Date

Stakeholders

  • Architect: AYBAR.MATEOS.ARQUITECTOS.

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid

Description

Una vez alcanzados los estándares propios de una sociedad moderna en confort, comodidad y salubridad en las viviendas, tanto por la normativa como por la industria, debemos evolucionar y aportar nuevos niveles de calidad en lo espacial, lo material y en sus posibilidades de evolución.

Es necesario generar propuestas capaces de adecuarse a los nuevos retos sociales y los tipos de núcleos familiares que conforman el tejido social en una exploración de lo cotidiano.

La parcela RC 4 se sitúa en un nuevo desarrollo urbanístico denominado APE 18.05 “La Rosilla” en Madrid junto al distrito de Vallecas. La Rosilla se encuentra en el triángulo formado por la Carretera de Villaverde a Vallecas, la avenida Mayorazgo y la calle Castejón de Henares.

El proyecto busca generar una pieza de transición entre el espacio urbano difuso que lo caracteriza y el nuevo parque situado al sur. Las piezas se organizan en dos escalas alternas, la que agota la altura máxima de ocho plantas y la que cuentan con cinco plantas. Su colocación ortogonal permite una heterogeneidad en la percepción desde la vía pública y una clara discontinuidad en los planos de fachadas. La limitación normativa de profundidad de los edificios a 12 metros y los límites de factores de relación entre zonas comunes y privadas aconsejan organizar el conjunto de accesos a las viviendas mediante núcleos para dos viviendas en el edificio longitudinal y núcleo para 4 en el vertical. En la búsqueda de la mejora de estos aspectos, se organizan viviendas de configuración flexible que permite una estancia pasante que contiene la cocina y el estar claramente separados y un vestíbulo con almacenamiento, de manera paralela a este espacio, se organizan las zonas de noche con los dormitorios. Esta estructura permite incluir 71 viviendas protegidas de precio básico (VPPB), 3 de ellas para PMR.

Los edificios dispondrán de un zócalo denso y rugoso construido mediante fabrica en aparejos con volumen, mientras que el resto de las envolventes de los edificios se construyen mediante un sistema SATE que optimiza el comportamiento energético del mismo. A lo largo del jardín se generan unos núcleos de actividad formados por un espacio de pavimento blando en áreas de juegos infantiles, unos bancos y una zona de plantación de plantas tapizantes y árboles que desarrollen gran porte y hoja caduca, permitiéndose la plantación al liberar el espacio bajo rasante el ámbito central de la parcela.

Links

Authors:

CARABANCHEL 34

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CARABANCHEL 34

Main objectives of the project

Visitamos un edificio residencial multifamiliar de 25 viviendas de 1, 2 y 3 dormitorios y zonas comunes construidas bajo los estándares de Passivhaus y proyectada conforme al CTE.

Date

Stakeholders

  • Architect: Ruiz-Larrea & Asociados
  • Constructor: MARCO OBRA PÚBLICA, S.A.

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid

Description

La visita que se propone a este edificio promovido íntegramente por la EMVS, es posiblemente una visita al futuro.

Carabanchel 34 es una apuesta absolutamente innovadora, un tipo de construcción de vanguardia que agrupa las viviendas ordenadamente en una pastilla edificatoria con doble orientación.

La vivienda de 1 dormitorio dispone de zona de día formada por cocina, tendedero y estar comedor, y la zona de noche que la integran un baño y un dormitorio. La vivienda de 2 dormitorios dispone de zona de día formada por cocina, tendedero y estar-comedor y la zona de noche que la integran un baño y dos dormitorios. La vivienda de 3 dormitorios dispone de zona de día formada por cocina, tendedero y estar-comedor y la zona de noche que la integran un dormitorio principal con baño incorporado y dos dormitorios y un baño. En nuestra visita al edificio, recorreremos tanto las zonas comunes, como una vivienda de las diferentes tipologías.

Las características del edificio proyectado son:

Alto grado de confort térmico interior, tanto en la estación fría como en la cálida. Rango de confort de 20-25˚C.
Aire de calidad excepcional garantizado durante 24 horas al día.
Calidad en la construcción para evitar o minimizar los puentes térmicos, infiltraciones no deseadas, condensaciones superficiales etc.
Precios asequibles de construcción.
Reducción de las facturas de consumo energético.
Durabilidad en el tiempo de las soluciones constructivas. Garantía de un buen funcionamiento durante muchos años con medidas mínimas de mantenimiento.
No requiere comportamientos específicos del usuario para lograr un correcto funcionamiento.
Niveles elevados de satisfacción por parte del usuario / propietario.

Authors:

DISTRICT HEATING VALLECAS (ECOBARRIO)

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DISTRICT HEATING VALLECAS (ECOBARRIO)

Main objectives of the project

The Municipal Colonies of San Francisco Javier and Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, located in Vallecas, were demolished in 1997 due to their deterioration. Over 2,000 public housing units were built with centralized heating and hot water systems, as well as a waste collection system. The urbanization was completed in 2009, but the economic crisis interrupted the construction of the buildings connected to the heating system. In 2016, construction was restarted and the implementation of the system was awarded to a construction company. Tests were conducted in completed developments, and it is expected that the heating and hot water supply will be operational in five developments by early 2021. Currently, work is underway to prepare the specifications for the operation and maintenance of the facilities.

Date

  • 2018: Construction

Stakeholders

Location

Continent: Europe
City: Madrid
Country/Region: Madrid, Spain

Description

The San Francisco Javier and Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles Municipal Colonies (hereinafter referred to as "the Colonies"), located in the Vallecas district, were built between 1956 and 1958. In 1997, the deteriorating condition of the buildings led to their demolition, and the entire Colonies area was replaced with a new urban plan through a Special Plan.

Simultaneously, a process of relocating the residents of the Colonies took place. The objective was to construct over 2,000 public housing units distributed in 20 buildings, equipped with a centralized heating and hot water system, known as District Heating (DH), and a pneumatic waste collection system, with collection bins installed in the buildings (central waste collection). At that time, this was a pioneering system for the production of hot water in residential complexes, relying on high-efficiency boilers and hydrogen fuel cells.

Subsequently, in 2009, the urbanization works began, including the construction of roads with general urban facilities (electricity, water, gas, telephone, and street lighting) and special facilities (distribution networks for hot water and waste collection from the central facilities to the future building plots). Likewise, the construction of the central facilities started, including the corresponding chimneys for the exhaust of gases produced by the combustion of the boilers. The idea was to have a community area with children's playgrounds and spaces for adults underneath the chimneys.

Eventually, the entire Colonies area was urbanized, and the central facilities were constructed. In the generation plant, only two (2) condensing boilers were installed (out of the initially planned six (6)), as well as two (2) hydrogen fuel cells (out of the initially planned six (6)), along with the rest of the associated installations. However, the economic crisis forced the construction of the buildings that would be served by the DH to be halted, preventing the central system from being operational.

In 2016, construction activities resumed by the Municipal Housing and Land Company of Madrid (EMVS), and the new buildings of the Colonies began to be constructed. All of them are intended to receive heating and hot water supply through the DH.

The implementation of the DH start-up project was awarded to the construction company UTE Ferrovial Servicios - Siemsa Industria on July 19, 2018. Initial tests and checks carried out to analyze the condition and suitability of the existing distribution network resulted in the need to undertake a new Heat Network. Consequently, a new calculation and design of the network were carried out, based on the new energy demands requested by the project directors of the Developments associated with the heat plant and in compliance with the new regulations (Technical Building Code).

The control of the entire system, including the DH equipment and the interior installations of the Developments, will be carried out centrally from the Central building. For this purpose, the control system and connection to the Heat Network of all Developments have been unified.

As of today, the New Heat Network is constructed, and operational tests are being conducted in completed developments. It is expected that by early 2021, the DH will provide heating and hot water supply to five Colonies developments.

Work is underway to prepare the specifications that will encompass the Operation and Maintenance of both the DH system and the Developments.

Links

Authors: