ELEMENTAL©

Built

Location:
Projects: Pudahuel 1, Renca 3 and Barnechea 1

Areas:
35 to 75 m²

Engineering
José Gajardo

Specialties:
J&J Proyectos Integrales

As part of Chilean public policy, housing projects must include a building which serves as a club or “social center”.  There is a subsidy of US$ 250 for this purpose for each housing unit built.  Thus, if a complex has 100 units, the budget for the Social Center will be US$ 25,000 and if it is 200 units, double that amount will be granted, i.e., US$ 50,000.

The equipment’s surface is also regulated according to the size of the complex and in general terms, it can be said that per 1 m2 of housing there should be a minimum of 100 m2 of social center.  Therefore, for a complex of 200 units, the social center should be at least 200 square meters.

Due to these conditions, our challenge has consisted in developing a prototype which can be adapted to the different projects of ELEMENTAL.  A key factor to achieve this is to be able to maintain the same structural calculus for a prototype which must react to different budgetary and surface demands. We defined for this end a stable basic nucleus for all projects, built of reinforced concrete which contains the wet areas plus an interior service courtyard, at the back. We then developed another volume, a regular box, which can be more or less mounted on the base module, depending on the required size. The “inclined box” introduces on one hand the public stairs in the central space of the social center (generating a double height which reaches 5 free meters at its highest point) and, on the other hand, profits from its own slope to avoid rain falling from the roof, avoiding solutions for flat roofs which are more expensive.

This metallic volume has open ends to permit cross ventilation and also to allow for an easier expansion towards the adjacent outer space on special occasions.

The project, however, has been designed to be as closed and hermetic as possible for protection against burglary or vandalism during the periods when it is not being used.

Built

Location:
Projects: Pudahuel 1, Renca 3 and Barnechea 1

Areas:
35 to 75 m²

Engineering
José Gajardo

Specialties:
J&J Proyectos Integrales

Built

Location:
Projects: Pudahuel 1, Renca 3 and Barnechea 1

Areas:
35 to 75 m²

Engineering
José Gajardo

Specialties:
J&J Proyectos Integrales