Lakun

The proposal for plot R12 in Mijas stems from an attentive reading of the site, understanding the topography, the orientation and the built context as active variables in the design process. Faced with a possible logic of compactness or a closed block, a strategy of openness is chosen: a U-shaped layout that opens with determination towards the south, in search of light, views and cross ventilation. This decision not only defines the shape of the complex, but also structures its entire spatial, climatic and functional logic.

The U-shape is neither arbitrary nor formalistic. It responds to the desire to liberate the interior of the plot, to allow the central void to act as a green lung, an air chamber and a meeting space. This landscaped space is not a remnant, but the true centre of gravity of the project, where access, visuals and the daily life of the users converge. By opening up to the south, the project is protected from the noise of the northern road and the massive presence of the adjoining shopping centre, while at the same time being exposed to the distant landscape, the sea and the horizon.

It is at the end walls that the architecture becomes more precise, more refined. Far from enclosing the ends with blind walls or inert walls, the building is left to carve in section, in a deliberate operation of subtraction. Floor by floor, the volume is emptied, freeing up a sequence of deep terraces that stagger the façade. This strategy is more than a gesture, it is a structuring decision: it improves the sunlight penetration of the dwellings, reduces the perception of built mass and generates a rich spatial repertoire, where the boundary between inside and outside is blurred.

The large, modulated terraces are not seen as an addition or a complement. They are an essential part of the design device. They act as outdoor rooms, as climatic filters, as thresholds where light, air and landscape are inhabited. Their geometry responds to a logic of continuous section, where each setback introduces subtle variations in the proportion and the relationship with the surroundings. On the ground plan, the dwellings open onto these exterior platforms as if they were extending their domesticity outwards.

The treatment of the carved and stepped headwall transforms what would normally be an opaque boundary into an active, lively, luminous façade. This operation is accentuated in the attics, where the terraces are at their most expressive: open to the south, with long, uninterrupted views, they give the dwellings an almost horizontal quality, as if they were houses set high up. The architecture does not impose itself on its surroundings; it adapts, accommodates itself, allows itself to be colonised by life and the climate.

From a volumetric reading, the complex strikes a balance between compactness and fragmentation. The general layout offers density and urban control, while the progressive emptying of the edges breaks the rigidity of the conventional block. The result is an architecture that does not seek to shine through visual impact, but through adjustment, precision and sensibility. Each gesture responds to a real need: to open up, to orient, to protect, to inhabit.

The circulation and access system is organised efficiently and clearly. The vertical cores, distributed with regularity, ensure a logical and rational functioning of the complex. On the ground floor, pedestrian accesses, porches and common spaces are generously treated, extending the public space to the threshold of each doorway. The right block is complemented by commercial premises on the ground floor, providing a layer of activity that reinforces the connection with the existing urban fabric.