Madrid-based FRPO Rodriguez y Oriol has projected this residential building "Monier Housing" in the southeast of the Spanish capital. The expansion of the city has led to the occupation of vacant land, in this case, the space between the areas of Vicálvaro and Coslada.

The project, located in a neighbourhood with very clear geometries and a conventional layout, consists of two twin towers arranged at the ends of a central park with green communal areas and a swimming pool.
The residential complex designed by FRPO Rodriguez y Oriol houses 80 dwellings, 40 in each tower, all arranged in a square floor plan of 22 sqm around a central void that will encourage interaction between neighbours.

The towers appear identical but each has slightly different openings and spaces so that each has its own identity and is different from the other. The pergola at the bottom of the building acts as a horizontal belt around the complex and organizes access to the buildings.


Monier Housing by FRPO Rodriguez y Oriol. Photograph by Luis Asín
 

Description of project by FRPO Rodriguez y Oriol

El Cañaveral
In its growth towards the southeast, the city of Madrid has colonized the empty space between Vicálvaro and Coslada with clear geometries and a conventional layout on which the buildings are arranged as small towers around a central park.

Almost twin towers
In this context, the project is conceived as two almost twin buildings, following the spirit of the masterplan, but seeking to create a unitary complex that offers a new face to the neighbourhood. The two volumes are similar, but they present slight differences so that each one maintains its own personality. We take advantage of the fact that the complex completes the front of the plot and we propose a canopy as a horizontal belt that joins both buildings and organizes the access to the buildings.

A central garden
The horizontal canopy provides a unique character, increases the space available for common areas, and generates a sequence of large porches and terraces on the ground, first and second floors. The large canopy hosts a meadow with large trees inside. Underneath, a covered perimeter walk joins the portals of both buildings; a space that provides shelter on rainy days and protected access from the street entrance.

80 homes
The project includes 80 apartments -40 per tower- on a 22 x 22 m square floor plan, around a central void that allows the built surface to be brought to the façade, providing a space for community relations. On the ground floor, the apartments are surrounded by a private garden and a large porch.

More information

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Architects
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FRPO Rodriguez y Oriol. Lead architects.- Pablo Oriol, Fernando Rodríguez.
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Collaborators
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María Díaz, Ricardo González, Iñigo Palazón, Ricardo Fernández, Ignacio Navarro, Francisco Díaz, David Marcos, Mecanismo Ingeniería, Apricot (Tomás Mediana and José Platero), Juan Tur, Fernando González (Grupo Integra), Egiser Ingenieros (Félix Escalona), Clara Sierra.
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Client
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AEDAS HOMES.
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Area
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13.590 sqm.
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Dates
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Project start.- 05-2018.
Building start.- 06-2019.
Building end.- 03.2022.
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Location
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Madrid, Spain.
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Photography
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FRPO (2008) is an architecture office based in Madrid directed by Fernando Rodriguez and Pablo Oriol, internationally recognized with the Architectural Record Design Vanguard (New York, 2012), Europe 40 under 40 (2009) and Bauwelt Preis (Berlin, 2007) awards, among others. Their work has also received prestigious awards, such as the selection for the Architectural Review Emerging Architecture Awards (2019), the FAD Awards (2019), the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2016, Golden Lion), the nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Awards (2015), the IX and XII Spanish Biennials of Architecture and Urbanism (2007 and 2013), or the V and IX Ibero-American Biennials of Architecture and Urbanism (2006 and 2014).

FRPO’s work has been widely published, and its proposals have been disseminated through articles, lectures, and frequent exhibitions, both nationally and internationally.

Trained as architects at the ETSAM in Madrid, at the IIT in Chicago and the TU Berlin, Pablo Oriol and Fernando Rodriguez are professors in the Department of Architectural Design at the ETSAM UPM, as well as regular guests at various national and foreign universities.

Fernando Rodríguez holds a PhD in Architecture since 2015. He studied architecture at UPM ETSAM in Madrid and at the Technische Universität Berlin, between 1995 and 2003. He has collaborated in MVRDV and has been Invited Critic with Kees Christiaanse at the TU Berlin. He worked as a project architect for Abalos & Herreros in 2004. He is a lecturer at the Architectural Design Department of UPM ETSAM and at the IE University.

Pablo Oriol studied architecture at UPM ETSAM and the IIT College of Architecture in Chicago, between 1995 and 2005. He was Cultural Activities Curator for the General Department of Architecture of the Ministry of Public Works for the ETSAM and the Cervantes Institute between 1999 and 2002. He was part of the redaction team of the magazine Arquitectura Viva in 2006. He is PhD candidate and lecturer at the Architectural Design Department of UPM ETSAM and at the IE University.

In 2005 Fernando Rodriguez and Pablo Oriol were founding partners of Nolaster Oficina de Arquitectura, where they developed their professional activity until 2007. In 2008 they established FRPO as a natural evolution of their previous professional experiences.
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