The firm of Roldán Berengué Arquitectes designed the project which has received the award for the industrialised construction category
The project of accessible housing for young people, built in the industrial warehouses of the Fabra i Coats facility in the district of Sant Andreu del Palomar, has been awarded the Advanced Architecture Awards 2020. These awards recognise the work of those professionals committed to innovation in the construction industry through the generation of new materials, the development of alternative products, the creation of new experiences for users, or the promotion of sustainable construction systems, among others. The prizes were awarded within the framework of REBUILD 2020, held between 29 September and 1 October 2020; an event where 260 sector experts shared innovative and ground-breaking construction projects and models.
Roldán Berengué Arquitectes designed the project to transform the Fabra i Coats thread storage warehouse into a social housing complex and facilities for the Jove de Barcelona colla castellera [human tower group] which has been awarded the AEDAS Homes Award for Industrialised Construction. It recognises that the intervention on the warehouse activates all the original elements and reuses its physical, spatial and historic qualities to make the new construction more efficient and reinforce the nature of the original building.
44 homes have been built at Can Fabra, with an average of 64 m2, aimed at young people between 18 and 35 years old, and with large communal areas they can share depending on their needs. Furthermore, its construction has followed sustainability criteria. It is the first public rental housing building that has been built inside an industrial warehouse and it has preserved the exterior structure of the factory, using a construction system inside the building that separates the interior structure from the exterior façades, making the most of the original structure. The interior structure is made almost entirely from wood, a material with a very low environmental impact, and all the materials used are recycled, recyclable, and with a low energy impact.
The Municipal Institute of Housing and Renovation of Barcelona (IMHAB) is committed to industrialised techniques, such as those used as Can Fabra, in the public tender for public housing construction projects. These techniques allow for shorter work execution times and minimise the environmental impact of the construction materials.