‘REPSOL TOWERS’ COMPETITION MALAGA

Location: Málaga

Author: Rafael Moneo, Moneo Brock and ESTUDIO SEGUÍ

Project date: 2022

The competition for the Residential Towers on the former REPSOL site was announced by Malaga City Council in 2021, with the aim of enhancing the value of a land of important urban centrality in the city. The joint call for projects and companies on this municipally owned land was intended to guarantee not only the quality of the project but also the economic viability of the operation.

The façade skin is resolved by means of a perimeter gallery as a transition space between the exterior and the interior of the dwelling, replacing the balcony which would be insufficient to solve the necessary exterior living space currently required by the dwellings. On the south and west façades (more exposed to the sun), ‘photovoltaic awnings’ are designed to be integrated into the façade to provide solar protection and energy collection.

Its façade elements are regulated on the basis of a geometry made up of nine different ones delimited by vertical ‘columns’ covered with vitrified ceramic pieces and metallic railings, making possible the necessary transparency to visualise the important landscape of the city and its coastline from all the rooms of the dwellings, which are delimited by fixed and mobile glass walls connecting with the gallery. Finally, the Tower is crowned with a double-height cornice that includes the Swimming Pool and ‘Terraces-Viewpoints’ areas on the roof.

The residential space acquires great importance due to its flexibility to adapt to the diverse and new typological demands, with the following main characteristics standing out: on the one hand, the incorporation of the perimeter space of the ‘gallery’ that is integrated with the dwelling, forming part of it; and on the other hand, guaranteeing the perception of the coastline and the city from all its rooms through the blue-coloured columns and its fixed and mobile glass walls that communicate with the gallery space.