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Ses Veles Puigpunyent

Main façade of the six social housing building Ses Veles in Puigpunyent with cyclopean wall and wooden shutters

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Ses Veles Puigpunyent

This housing project, located in Puigpunyent, Mallorca, is promoted by the IBAVI (Balearic Housing Institute). The building is designed with an emphasis on sustainability, energy efficiency, and environmental respect. To achieve this, the project is based on a local economic model incorporating traditional crafts, construction methods, and passive strategies typical of the island.

Side façade of the six social housing building Ses Veles in Puigpunyent with cyclopean wall
Close-up of the lime and stone wall with integrated ceramic drainage spouts, showing the natural texture of the render made from local materials.

With two levels and a gable roof, the building is distributed into six dwellings, four on the lower ground floor and two on the upper level. The ground floor units have one bedroom and access to a private outdoor space, while the upper floor units have two bedrooms, each opening onto its own outdoor terrace. Open, flexible, and adaptable spaces are proposed that relate to each other directly, with the kitchen as the central space.

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View through one of the ground-floor units of the six social housing building Ses Veles in Puigpunyent
Rear façade of the six social housing building Ses Veles in Puigpunyent

Using local materials and strategies, the building's materiality responds to its surroundings. The lime cyclopean facades incorporate the stones and earth from the excavation itself. The partitions are made of local ceramics, filled with residual sand from nearby quarries and finished with clay and straw. The floors and carpentry are made of FSC wood. The interior floors were made of local lime, and the exterior floors, tiles and roof tiles were also sourced locally.

Kitchen of a unit in the six social housing building Ses Veles in PuigpunyentView of the living room of a unit in the Ses Veles building in Puigpunyent facing the terraceView of the living room of a unit in the Ses Veles building in Puigpunyent facing the terrace
View of the living room and kitchen of a unit in the six social housing building Ses Veles in Puigpunyent
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The building is strategically designed to maximise solar gain in winter and reduce cooling demand in summer, incorporating cross ventilation, solar shading, and high thermal inertia in floors and walls with humidity-regulating hygroscopy and breathability. The 'Trombe' type roof is a key element that captures heat in winter and is ventilated in summer, regulating the temperature and thus eliminating active systems. The private patios function as user control and filtering elements for the ventilation of the dwellings.

Detail of the terrace and cyclopean wall of a unit in the six social housing building Ses Veles in Puigpunyent
Detail of the cyclopean wall with stones from the site excavation in the Ses Veles building in Puigpunyent
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With near-zero energy consumption (7,02 kWh/m²-year, NZEB), the project reduces CO₂ emissions by 50%, while circularity considerations mean a waste reduction of 60%. In addition, the project has been consciously designed with building systems where materials can be separated for reuse in the event of demolition. The Life Cycle Analysis demonstrates a low CO2 cost in construction (230 Kg Co2/m2), a 50% reduction compared to conventional constructions.

Excavation process and construction of the cyclopean wall of the six social housing building Ses Veles in PuigpunyentExcavation process and construction of the cyclopean wall of the six social housing building Ses Veles in Puigpunyent
Detail of the cyclopean wall with stones from the site excavation in the Ses Veles building in Puigpunyent

The result is a housing complex that reduces its environmental impact while strengthening the local economy and promoting territorial regeneration. By incorporating vernacular materials and techniques, Ses Veles Puigpunyent proposes an architecture in dialogue with the island's culture, combining technical innovation and environmental responsibility.

Project
Ses Veles Puigpunyent
Year
2024
Location
Mallorca
Programa
Multi-family residential
Area
399 m2
Authors
Joan Fortuny, Marc Alventosa, Xavier Morell
Team
Baltasar Nicolau (technical architect), Andrea Capella Mònaco, Joan Martí Elias, Carolina Capella Mònaco, Jordi Adell Roig i Júlia Nabona Jasans, Sandra Vargas, Marina Morey, Gori Llambias, Raquel Mirón, Rebeca Lopez, Eric Moyá (architects), Estudis d’Enginyeria de les Illes (engineering), Juan Fortuny Siquier (structure)
Photographer
José Hevia
Awards
A+A Awards 2025, winner at the Multi-Unit Sustainable Housing category