Located in the historic centre of Villajoyosa, a coastal town in Alicante full of history and flavour, the new Allonbay Urban residential complex is the ideal place for all those who dream of living by the sea without giving up the comfort of being in the heart of the old town.
The project was carried out by Adoras Atelier, Quadratia‘s architecture studio, and Carlos Pueyo, its project coordinator, tells us all the details in this interview, in which he describes the key points of this architectural challenge and explains what inspired them to make it a reality.
How was the Allonbay Urban project born?
– Carlos Pueyo: “The project was born out of the need to create a residential development in the historic centre of Villajoyosa. As with every new project, we started by studying the environment and analysing all its strengths and weaknesses“.
“In this case it was a very specific context because it is a consolidated urban centre, with many conditioning factors that affect the development of a project”.
Carlos Pueyo, project coordinator at Adoras Atelier.
Pueyo highlights this as a major difference compared to other Allonbay projects in Villajoyosa. In Allonbay Village, for example, the site was undeveloped and there weren’t as many environmental constraints.
The uncovered opportunity: filling the urban void by the sea
The complexity here lay in the urban void left by the undeveloped plots, which were practically “a stone’s throw from the sea“. According to Pueyo, “this was a problem because it generated a certain disconnection with the environment and a negative image of abandonment“.
“The main objective of the project is to solve this ‘urban void’ in the historic centre of Villajoyosa, which is squeezing out all the potential of the area”.
Carlos Pueyo, project coordinator at Adoras Atelier.
Historical inspiration: a combination of wall and exclusivity in the Allonbay Village style
In Allonbay Village, the strategy was to adapt to the environment with a heavy element as the central axis and then to create much lighter elements looking out to sea – Pueyo tells us – “The question we then asked ourselves was: how to implement the same strategy in such an urban context as the centre of a city?
The first step and the one that provided all the answers was an the in-depth analysis of the urban centre in which the project was to be developed. “We realised that the growth of Villajoyosa since medieval times had been based on the construction of buildings on the city walls“. The idea was to rebuild this great avenue facing the sea, creating “a fictitious wall as a heavy element (in the Allonbay Village style) and then topping it off with lighter elements, with more exclusive housing and much more panoramic views“.
“Thanks to this fictitious wall, we achieved this reminiscence of the past in the new Allonbay Urban housing residential, reminiscent of the elements that emerge from and lean against the old wall”.
Carlos Pueyo, project coordinator at Adoras Atelier.
The result was very positive, because it was possible to solve a new problem (the urban void created by vacant lots) using the same strategy that had been used previously in Allonbay Village and which was already known to work.
Quadratia and Adoras Atelier: synergy for investment in the new Allonbay Urban residential complex
As we learnt from the interview with Jesús Gallego, CEO of Adoras Atelier, the constant communication with Quadratia is what allows the team of architects to know exactly what the client is looking for in each project and what their real needs and expectations are, beyond the purchase of a new home. In fact, the same relationship of trust is established between Quadratia and its other collaborators, such as AT Interiores.
“The synergy between Adoras and Quadratia is essential to be able to offer the client exactly what they want from the start, rather than adapting during the process.
Carlos Pueyo, project coordinator at Adoras Atelier.
The collaboration between Quadratia and Adoras has resulted in a project that responds very well to the premises that were set: housing facing the sea, with large terraces and panoramic views to be enjoyed by the future residents of this residential complex.
Conclusions
- The strategy adopted by Adoras Atelier for the development of the new Allonbay Urban residential complex is the same as that used in the case of Allonbay Village, but adapted to a new specific environment. In this way, we work with the confidence that the result will work, because it has worked in the past.
- The challenge was to work on an area that was a real urban void, but which was located in a privileged enclave, just a few steps from the beach.
- At all times, the collaboration and fluid communication between the architectural studio Adoras Atelier and Quadratia was the key to achieving the objectives, something we try to replicate with all our collaborators.
