Article source: Jaime J. Ferrer Forés

Patio houses and environment: mat building

As an extension of the urban tissue of Es Mercadal, characterized by a network of narrow streets and small courtyards, the project was conceived as a mat building, where houses open to an ordered series of patios and connected through two access galleries. The building volume is excavated with various operations to be filled with light and air.

Image Courtesy © José Hevia

• Architects: Jaime J. Ferrer Forés
• Project: Courtyard social houses
• Location: Es Mercadal, Menorca, Spain
• Photography: José Hevia
• Collaborators: Yolanda Ortega Sanz, architect; Vicenç Jordi Manent, co-site supervisor; Joan Reynés, quantity surveyor
• Contractor: Llabrés Feliu. Juan Alfonso Rivero, Yolanda Homar and Antonio Rodríguez, site supervisors
• Consultants: Roca Ingenieros, Mechanical engineering; Bernal Nadal, structure
• Client: IBAVI, Institut Balear de l’Habitatge
• Cost: 2.814.178 Euros   Floor area: 4.460 m2
• Intervention Chronology: 2006 – 2010
• Prizes: Selected work Bauwelt Prize 2013 “First house”, Highly commended AVS Awards 2010 Social housing