Living in lime
Son Servera, Spain
Forty-two social housing flats in Son Servera, Mallorca, built for the Balearic housing institute and finished in 2023. The building splits into two stepped volumes so its street front matches the grain of the old town, leaving two walled courtyards at opposite corners: one a small stone plaza at the entrance, the other planted around an existing well and looking towards the sea.
The street walls are marés, the local Balearic sandstone, continuing the village pattern of stone walls with gardens hidden behind them, and the fins above are a screen of white concrete slats that filters air, light and view into the courtyards while cross-ventilating the flats. The lime of the name is in the finish, load bearing brick walls rendered in lime for its moisture control, and each flat opens through a winter garden terrace that collects heat, so the building runs without active systems. Photographed by José Hevia, the project won the Premio Hábitat at Spain's national architecture awards in 2024 and was shortlisted for the European Union's Mies van der Rohe Award.
Peris + Toral Arquitectes
The Barcelona practice of Marta Peris and José Manuel Toral, whose work is mostly public and social housing, researching new ways of living in answer to the climate emergency and the housing crisis. Both teach, at Barcelona's ETSAB school and as guest professors at EPFL Lausanne.
Architecture Peris + Toral Arquitectes. Photography José Hevia. Seen via @globalspaces.
The picture comes from this post on Instagram, with more in a second post.
Researched August 2026. I credit each piece as carefully as I can; if you know more about this one, message me on Instagram.