43 Social Housing Units. María Teresa León 8-14 - PERIS TORAL ARQUITECTES

The desire to create homes that do not require active heating and cooling systems has conditioned the entire approach to this building, from its orientation to the construction system.

The load-bearing wall construction system, using 20cm thick compressed earth blocks (CEBs) with a density of about 2,000 kg/m3, offers high inertia, sufficient mass to resolve noise issues between neighbours with a single leaf, and a low carbon footprint. In addition, the clays mean its hygrothermal behaviour can regulate the humidity of the environment, which in summer exceeds 80%, reducing it to values of 55%. Although the single-direction ceiling proposed in the competition was in wood, during the project concrete was chosen to increase inertia.