Tejeria Housing

The four-dwelling project is situated in the heart of Pamplona, a mere 40 metres from Calle Estafeta, famous for the San Fermín bull runs. The street, like so many in the Gothic quarter, is barely 6 metres wide and has a cornice height of 15 metres. Given these proportions, the challenge was to introduce natural light and ventilation into homes with a frontage of just 4.6 metres and a depth of 18 metres. To achieve this, two elements were used: a solid brick made of glass interwoven with ceramic brick – a nod to the fact that Calle Tejería was once home to medieval tile and brick craftsmen – And glazed galleries that reinterpret the wrought-iron structures of the 19th century. The semi-transparent brick façade opens up with three glazed galleries, supported by slender steel struts. This outer skin is followed by an inner glazed layer, creating a gallery that provides thermal and acoustic insulation from the street, forming a landscaped buffer zone.

The new structure is not supported by the party walls, but by the stairwell and the two planes of the façades, in a somewhat counter-intuitive approach. Structural stability meant we had to retain the party walls, revealing a palimpsest of stone, brick and timber. The design leaves this tapestry exposed, stabilising the most deteriorated areas with lime mortar.

On the ground floor, the walls were thicker, restricting the space of the entrance hall and the premises. The former opens up to the overhead light from the communal staircase, which bathes the exposed, rough surface of the party wall. The latter connects the street to a small landscaped inner courtyard whose whitewashed walls reflect the light.

All the flats are dual-aspect, with living rooms facing the street and bedrooms facing the inner courtyard. To prevent the kitchen from encroaching on the living room, it was designed to open onto the corridor. The cupboards are also situated in this space. Both elements are finished in wood. The two bedrooms are very different in size and can be combined into a single space. The smaller bedroom opens fully onto the corridor, visually connecting the entire depth of the flat.

The building’s climate control is provided by an aerothermal system that harnesses the thermal inertia of the concrete slabs and party walls, and which has achieved the highest energy efficiency rating.

It has been a project developed with great care and attention to detail. The aim was simply to make better use of a small plot sandwiched between party walls – so common in our European historic centres – without resorting to historicist pastiche and by pushing the interpretation of the regulations to the limit.