La Raval is a housing cooperative based on a right-to-use model, located on municipal land in the historic center of Manresa. It represents an alternative model characterized by collective ownership and a non-speculative nature. The project is self-promoted by its future residents, who share a desire for a more communal and shared way of life. These core concepts, along with the cooperative’s commitment to activating and regenerating its surroundings, are central to the architectural design.

The building is organized around a small central courtyard, which serves as the core of communal life and around which circulation is arranged. From the entrance, one can observe how the courtyard connects to the ground floor and ascends, accompanied by an open staircase and generous circulation paths, all the way to the roof. An exterior evacuation staircase provides double circulation, allowing the interior staircase to remain open and to illuminate the courtyard laterally along its entire height.

Text provided by the architects.

La entrada La Raval Housing Cooperative se publicó primero en Global Spaces.

The project seeks to rehabilitate the old house of grandmother Carolina, in Rabós (Alt Empordà) after a period of time closed, to prevent its progressive deterioration, and enable it for the enjoyment of the family, for short and long stays.

It is a simple construction in the old town, dating from the eighteenth century and composed of a main body with two levels, the upper one contains the house with access from the street, the lower semi-basement for animals and storage for farming activity together with the courtyard, both with access from a passage. The original construction is made of stone, with small openings, and with the main pieces linked above all to the north-facing street façade. The house had had an intervention years ago where the roof was improved and take the opportunity to expand the volume by generating an attic, the addition of a new body to the courtyard with a bedroom, and the updating of the services and facilities of the house. The new intervention establishes a dialogue with this intervention, repeating a gesture of the roof, and giving continuity to the construction systems, as well as recovering the characteristic pink color of the façade.

La entrada Ca la Carolina se publicó primero en Global Spaces.