Paula Eco-House
2010
Borell Paula Soldevilla
Torrelodones. Madrid
179.46 m2
225,500 euros
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1. Most Important Goals

Perform a 100% sustainable housing, and bioclimatic high, capable of warming itself in cold climates, with the least possible assistance from technological additives.

Make a removable housing with high thermal inertia, low budget, and minimum energy consumption, which incorporates the least amount of artifacts.

Make a simple typology of housing that consumes power only.

2. Architectural Solution

The house is located in the urbanization "criminal" Torrelodones city, Madrid. The temperatures are extreme (very hot in summer and too cold in winter), and low humidity.

The house has two levels. The ground floor houses a rehearsal room, two guest bedrooms, a bathroom and mechanical room. The first floor houses a single space-living room-kitchen and a bathroom.


The housing structure is extremely simple, and triangular in shape, due to a balance between environmental concerns, programmatic constraints, site constraints and the need to view all the rooms south of the plot.

Due to the slope of the plot, the main entrance to the north, is on the first floor. Instead the ground floor has an entrance on the south.

3. Most important innovations

- Precast system supporting structure-based double wall (wall charge and wall covering), which allows total removal of the dwelling in order to facilitate the repair or reuse of all components, including the structure itself.

- LED-based lighting. All luminaires housing are based on LEDs. This is achieved lighting energy savings of 90% compared to a conventional home.

- High level bioclimatic. Due to its excellent architectural design bioclimatic housing does not need air conditioning systems in summer (although the outside temperature could exceed 40 degrees), and for winter only need an electric heating system. As a result, consumes very little power house. In fact consumes only 25% of the energy of a conventional house of the same surface.

- Effective and ecological electric heating. Due to refined bioclimatic housing design, the energy cost is very low, despite using only electricity.

Casa Paula shows that electricity is the cheapest energy and environmentally friendly available. Similarly, it actually increases the "quality" of power, and that makes 4 times more effective.

On the other hand, electric heating is the safest of all, and do not need expensive boilers or infrastructure. The two batteries and 4 housing electric heaters have cost 1,200 euros. A gas system (or similar) would have cost over 9,000 euros. Therefore, an additional advantage for electric heating.

Finally, systems for gas, biomass, fuel, .... Need a dedicated floor area (the boiler room, etc ...) that at least occupies about 5 m2. At the average price of construction, this implies a cost of about 6,000 euros. Of course, electric heat does not need the dedicated space, so it turns out to be much more economical, ecological, economical and reliable.

- Roof garden with native species. The green roof garden is designed on the basis of plant species indigenous to the Community of Madrid. The housing cover symbolizes and shows how any site can be built with a 100% occupancy and at the same time ensuring a 100% green area.