The arrangement of the complex in two buildings that flank the entrance to the block’s courtyard is suggested by two main aspects of the requirements program: the separate and autonomous operation of housing for young people, housing for the elderly and the public character of the interior free space of the block. We open the courtyard to the street dematerialising the corner - the only façade in the Eixample that allows frontal views - not only because of the similar size of the two housing programs but also because it allows us to highlight the importance of the courtyard in the operation of buildings: common place, meeting space for the four activities, a busy courtyard, the outer lobby of the two apartment buildings, and the nursery. A place where they look at the multipurpose rooms of the houses, and therefore interact with the life of the same. The decisions regarding the layout and volumetric treatment of the program are: to arrange a building for young people, a compact that maintains the height of ground floor + 6 floors of Indústria Street, treat its partition and take advantage of the good orientation of the ground floor in the courtyard to locate the nursery.
To arrange the program for the elderly in a larger building, with two wings, which covers the courtyard and forms its south façade. To achieve with this arrangement a terrace on the level of the third floor of the house, which serves not only as a solarium but as an additional multipurpose space in spring, summer and autumn, and a suitable place to organise social gatherings and parties.
To recognize the presence of the passage with a recess of 4 floors in Navas Street that will allow to play with the total height of the building on this street, reaching 6 floors of housing on a ground floor with mezzanine at the same time intended for a civic centre and a hotel of entities. To compensate for the roof that is not built within the PGM gauge and especially the 26.60 m. of depth that could be done in the passage, by a half floor more in height in Navas Street and two in the passage. In the design of the housing cell, we opted for a 7m wide groove, in order to give quality of life - light and ventilation - to small homes that enjoy a single orientation façade and whose transverse ventilation must be mechanical.
Starting from a similar dimensional module and organisation, for the two types of housing, which with a series of differentiating elements, bring them closer to the sensitivity or lifestyle of young and old. Seniors will spend more time in the home and in the building and will therefore have a greater social relationship with the community. Therefore, a small terrace is included as a necessary element as an extension of the house, a clothesline and a greater intimacy of the bedroom is sought, as well as a unique kitchen-dining-living space to free it from obstacles that make it difficult for mobility. On the other hand, for young people, the aim is for the living room and bedroom to be a single, more versatile and dynamic space, which facilitates different types and distributions of furniture to provide a wider range of possibilities for use. In this case, thinking of a media economy, terraces and drying racks are not planned as they do not seem to be strictly necessary. In both cases, a bathroom-dressing-laundry area is proposed that frees the bedroom from the clothes and their easements and allows the bedroom to gain one more wall.