Regaining a sense of belonging
La Morada cooperative Housing
La Morada, a feminist cooperative housing project with 12 dwellings and a common spaces
La Morada is a feminist housing cooperative under a use-transfer model, located in Barcelona. It is driven primarily by lesbian women, trans people, and other dissident identities.
It emerges from the need for access to dignified and affordable housing, along with the desire to materialize alternative models for sustaining life, care, and relationships. It is a commitment to creating a way of living, and by extension, a reflection on the construction of feminist architecture and cities.
It emerges from the need for access to dignified and affordable housing, along with the desire to materialize alternative models for sustaining life, care, and relationships. It is a commitment to creating a way of living, and by extension, a reflection on the construction of feminist architecture and cities.
Spain
Local
Barcelona
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Yes
2024-07-11
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
As a representative of an organisation, in partnership with other organisations
La Morada is a housing cooperative under a use-transfer model driven by women, lesbians, trans individuals, and other dissident identities. It seeks to establish a sustainable, community-based, and solidarity-focused model addressing aging and care needs. The project combines affordable, comfortable housing with communal spaces, fostering community life and integration with the neighborhood. Located on private land owned by "Fundació La Dinamo", its design reflects feminism, sustainability, and interdependence.
The building organizes its spaces through a community-private transition. On the ground floor, connected to the square, there is a communal kitchen and a space for local organizations, with the possibility of interacting with the neighborhood. A mezzanine houses a co-working area and a guest room. The rooftop features a terrace-garden with a laundry area, a summer dining space, and a photovoltaic pergola. In total, 290 m² of communal spaces complement the housing units, optimizing their surface and encouraging interaction among residents.
The design prioritizes a spacious interior courtyard, with access to the housing units via generous walkways that also serve as meeting areas. Kitchens, located at the entrance of each unit, act as transitions to more private zones. The bedrooms and living rooms face outward, with private terraces overlooking the square. The housing units are flexible and adaptable, designed to support collective aging.
Structurally, the design optimizes resources with a simple concrete framework, left visible to enhance thermal inertia. In terms of energy efficiency, passive strategies like optimal orientation and high-efficiency systems, such as centralized aerothermal heating and radiant floors, are employed. Additionally, La Morada is part of a local energy community initiative in the Roquetes neighborhood, promoting collective sustainability.
The building organizes its spaces through a community-private transition. On the ground floor, connected to the square, there is a communal kitchen and a space for local organizations, with the possibility of interacting with the neighborhood. A mezzanine houses a co-working area and a guest room. The rooftop features a terrace-garden with a laundry area, a summer dining space, and a photovoltaic pergola. In total, 290 m² of communal spaces complement the housing units, optimizing their surface and encouraging interaction among residents.
The design prioritizes a spacious interior courtyard, with access to the housing units via generous walkways that also serve as meeting areas. Kitchens, located at the entrance of each unit, act as transitions to more private zones. The bedrooms and living rooms face outward, with private terraces overlooking the square. The housing units are flexible and adaptable, designed to support collective aging.
Structurally, the design optimizes resources with a simple concrete framework, left visible to enhance thermal inertia. In terms of energy efficiency, passive strategies like optimal orientation and high-efficiency systems, such as centralized aerothermal heating and radiant floors, are employed. Additionally, La Morada is part of a local energy community initiative in the Roquetes neighborhood, promoting collective sustainability.
Affordable housing
Generate resilient community
Infrastructure to develop a sustanible life stylelife
Design for future needs
Link with the neighborhood
The building has been designed with the goal of providing affordable housing and minimizing economic costs while achieving comfort. A building as a refuge from energy poverty. It represents both an architectural response and a social responsibility, where climate comfort should not be exclusive to public housing.
La Morada has an A energy certificate, with an energy consumption of 2 kWh/m² per year and 0 CO₂ emissions per m² per year. It aims for high comfort both in winter and during Barcelona’s harsh summers. To control heat without using air conditioning, the building is externally insulated and takes advantage of its high thermal inertia, making use of the mass of the exposed concrete structure and ceramic materials without additional coatings. The homes are equipped with underfloor heating and cooling, powered by a centralized aerothermal system linked to solar panels.
The climate control and hot water generation system is communal, allowing for system optimization and ensuring that collective investment provides the greatest benefit to the end user. The sense of community that strongly defines the social project extends to the facilities. Collective management achieves benefits in terms of comfort, economy, and sustainability.
Due to budget constraints, it was not possible to build using a structure that would significantly reduce the environmental impact of materials. However, the design minimizes concrete usage, employing a traditional Mediterranean system of columns and beams with beam-and-block ceramic slab floors.
Sustainability also means optimizing built and heated space. At La Morada, smaller private apartments are complemented by communal areas, reinforcing the concept of a "large home." While individual homes are reduced in size, residents have access to over 200 shared spaces, including a laundry room, guest rooms, a communal kitchen and multipurpose room, a coworking space, a rooftop garden, and more.
La Morada has an A energy certificate, with an energy consumption of 2 kWh/m² per year and 0 CO₂ emissions per m² per year. It aims for high comfort both in winter and during Barcelona’s harsh summers. To control heat without using air conditioning, the building is externally insulated and takes advantage of its high thermal inertia, making use of the mass of the exposed concrete structure and ceramic materials without additional coatings. The homes are equipped with underfloor heating and cooling, powered by a centralized aerothermal system linked to solar panels.
The climate control and hot water generation system is communal, allowing for system optimization and ensuring that collective investment provides the greatest benefit to the end user. The sense of community that strongly defines the social project extends to the facilities. Collective management achieves benefits in terms of comfort, economy, and sustainability.
Due to budget constraints, it was not possible to build using a structure that would significantly reduce the environmental impact of materials. However, the design minimizes concrete usage, employing a traditional Mediterranean system of columns and beams with beam-and-block ceramic slab floors.
Sustainability also means optimizing built and heated space. At La Morada, smaller private apartments are complemented by communal areas, reinforcing the concept of a "large home." While individual homes are reduced in size, residents have access to over 200 shared spaces, including a laundry room, guest rooms, a communal kitchen and multipurpose room, a coworking space, a rooftop garden, and more.
One of the project's goals is to strengthen the sense of community that the group of residents desires. Architecture must support this objective of communal living while also preserving privacy. Through a participatory process, communal spaces are designed in collaboration with future residents, shaping the building’s program. This exercise is a reflection on the transition from public to private spaces, from the street to the intimacy of individual rooms.
The building materializes this concept. It is designed to open up at ground level, featuring a welcoming porch and social spaces, with the communal kitchen facing both the square and the interior courtyard. Circulation areas are part of this transition, offering spacious, adaptable, well-lit, and well-ventilated spaces, hallways that can become terraces. On the rooftop, there's a large landscaped terrace, accessible by elevator, allowing for greenery and offering breathtaking views of the city for collective enjoyment. The kitchens within the apartments act as a hinge between public and private spaces. Positioned at the entrance of each unit, they create an installation zone along with the bathrooms, freeing up the façade strip for living rooms and bedrooms. This layout allows for flexibility over time, enabling rooms to be connected and housing units to expand or contract as needed.
The design prioritizes reducing built space in favour of a more generous courtyard that provides natural light and sunlight. This results in apartments with a short distance between the street-facing façade and the interior courtyard, ensuring ample daylight and a strong connection to the outdoors despite the narrow plot.
A sense of security has been a key request from the residents, avoiding dark corners and enclosed corridors. Safety is achieved through open spaces and the ease of both seeing and being seen. Throughout the building (including elevator), circulation areas are naturally lit and designed to enhance security.
The building materializes this concept. It is designed to open up at ground level, featuring a welcoming porch and social spaces, with the communal kitchen facing both the square and the interior courtyard. Circulation areas are part of this transition, offering spacious, adaptable, well-lit, and well-ventilated spaces, hallways that can become terraces. On the rooftop, there's a large landscaped terrace, accessible by elevator, allowing for greenery and offering breathtaking views of the city for collective enjoyment. The kitchens within the apartments act as a hinge between public and private spaces. Positioned at the entrance of each unit, they create an installation zone along with the bathrooms, freeing up the façade strip for living rooms and bedrooms. This layout allows for flexibility over time, enabling rooms to be connected and housing units to expand or contract as needed.
The design prioritizes reducing built space in favour of a more generous courtyard that provides natural light and sunlight. This results in apartments with a short distance between the street-facing façade and the interior courtyard, ensuring ample daylight and a strong connection to the outdoors despite the narrow plot.
A sense of security has been a key request from the residents, avoiding dark corners and enclosed corridors. Safety is achieved through open spaces and the ease of both seeing and being seen. Throughout the building (including elevator), circulation areas are naturally lit and designed to enhance security.
La Morada is a pilot project built on private land owned by the La Dinamo Foundation. The group of future residents won the right to inhabit it through an open call process. The site was designated for the construction of 12 social housing units under a cooperative model based on the right-of-use system. It was up to the resident group, with the support of the La Dinamo Foundation and the architects from Lacol, to drive the project forward. The right-of-use model is based on collective ownership and cooperative governance of the housing. This results in a non-speculative, non-profit model that strives to provide dignified and affordable housing.
The site is located in the Roquetes neighborhood, a working-class area on the outskirts of the city. The core group behind the project is a feminist collective, composed mainly of lesbian women, trans people, and other dissident identities who seek to create alternative ways of sustaining life, care, and relationships.
The design prioritizes inclusion and accessibility, considering the future needs of aging residents. The building must adapt to the people, not the other way around. To achieve this, the project emphasizes flexibility by creating communal spaces that can easily change functions and complement the housing units. The structure and layout of the apartments focus on concentrating facilities (such as kitchens and bathrooms) in specific areas, freeing up the façade to allow for user-driven modifications. Within a set framework, the apartments are designed to accommodate changes and facilitate future adaptations.
The building is governed by the assembly of the La Morada cooperative, a space where management, conflict resolution, and community issues are addressed. The social dimension of these projects is vital, as it helps prevent isolation, fosters a collective identity, and encourages all residents to engage in the daily life of the cooperative.
The site is located in the Roquetes neighborhood, a working-class area on the outskirts of the city. The core group behind the project is a feminist collective, composed mainly of lesbian women, trans people, and other dissident identities who seek to create alternative ways of sustaining life, care, and relationships.
The design prioritizes inclusion and accessibility, considering the future needs of aging residents. The building must adapt to the people, not the other way around. To achieve this, the project emphasizes flexibility by creating communal spaces that can easily change functions and complement the housing units. The structure and layout of the apartments focus on concentrating facilities (such as kitchens and bathrooms) in specific areas, freeing up the façade to allow for user-driven modifications. Within a set framework, the apartments are designed to accommodate changes and facilitate future adaptations.
The building is governed by the assembly of the La Morada cooperative, a space where management, conflict resolution, and community issues are addressed. The social dimension of these projects is vital, as it helps prevent isolation, fosters a collective identity, and encourages all residents to engage in the daily life of the cooperative.
The building is designed through a parallel participatory process. The goal is to meet the users' wishes while also providing them with training and information to actively participate in some decisions. This creates a connection with the building, and the process is very different from the traditional one, where users arrive at a completed building, and all decisions have already been made without considering their input. In La Morada, the community has invested time in thinking about how they want to live, how they want to relate to the neighborhood, and they work on these connections before moving into the building. This fosters a sense of belonging and relationships with the surrounding area.
The social impact of these projects is hard to measure. On one hand, they help release housing from the buying or renting market. These are homes built for living, not for speculation. This, of course, teaches society that there are alternative, more social and ethical approaches when it comes to something as essential as housing.
On the other hand, it demonstrates how different agents in the process can collaborate using other logics, from state, regional, and local administrations, to private entities assisting with financing, or future users who fight to build their own social housing.
The social impact of these projects is hard to measure. On one hand, they help release housing from the buying or renting market. These are homes built for living, not for speculation. This, of course, teaches society that there are alternative, more social and ethical approaches when it comes to something as essential as housing.
On the other hand, it demonstrates how different agents in the process can collaborate using other logics, from state, regional, and local administrations, to private entities assisting with financing, or future users who fight to build their own social housing.
Financial plan illustrates how the various stakeholders involved in the process collaborate toward a common goal. This financial structure itself is an example of cooperation, bringing together diverse actors to achieve a clear objective: de-commodified social housing. Without the state as the direct manager, this model allows for alternative forms of governance, self-management, and a different relationship between the building and its residents.
The total cost of the development amounts to €2,441,000, involving multiple contributors. First, the 12 household units provide a capital contribution of 14%, which is supplemented by a 9% contribution from the La Dinamo Fdn. This initial investment secures the collaboration of Coop57 (an ethical finance institution), which covers 50% of the cost through various types of loans. The remaining funds come from private lenders who wish to support the project, thereby expanding its social base. Conventional banks are not involved.
It is important to highlight that these projects have influenced housing regulations, as they initially faced technical limitations. Various public administrations have responded to the needs of the project by adapting regulations, which can now benefit future initiatives. Two key examples:
Community spaces are counted as part of the housing area since they complement the flats, making them eligible for subsidies. This demonstrates an effort by public administrations to understand the goals of this model and adjust regulations accordingly.
The building was not required to include parking facilities. After lengthy discussions with municipal technicians, a precedent was set in the La Borda project that led to a change in local regulations. Now, public housing buildings with an A energy rating that can demonstrate no need for parking are exempt from constructing it. This recognizes both the shift in mobility models and the high environment costs associated to underground construction.
The total cost of the development amounts to €2,441,000, involving multiple contributors. First, the 12 household units provide a capital contribution of 14%, which is supplemented by a 9% contribution from the La Dinamo Fdn. This initial investment secures the collaboration of Coop57 (an ethical finance institution), which covers 50% of the cost through various types of loans. The remaining funds come from private lenders who wish to support the project, thereby expanding its social base. Conventional banks are not involved.
It is important to highlight that these projects have influenced housing regulations, as they initially faced technical limitations. Various public administrations have responded to the needs of the project by adapting regulations, which can now benefit future initiatives. Two key examples:
Community spaces are counted as part of the housing area since they complement the flats, making them eligible for subsidies. This demonstrates an effort by public administrations to understand the goals of this model and adjust regulations accordingly.
The building was not required to include parking facilities. After lengthy discussions with municipal technicians, a precedent was set in the La Borda project that led to a change in local regulations. Now, public housing buildings with an A energy rating that can demonstrate no need for parking are exempt from constructing it. This recognizes both the shift in mobility models and the high environment costs associated to underground construction.
Lacol is a non-profit architecture cooperative. The technicians at Lacol are already accustomed to working towards social goals and within horizontal structures, which is reflected throughout the entire process. Efforts are made to ensure that other professionals needed for the development of the project are also cooperatives belonging to the social and solidarity economy ecosystem. Having politically aligned individuals allows the team to row in the same direction during challenging situations, which are sometimes not very profitable economically. Working from a political commitment rather than for economic interest is an intangible value that accompanies the entire process.
In addition to architects, Lacol includes professionals in sociology to lead participatory processes and bring this value to the project: linking future users to the process from conception to construction. The team also includes project managers specialized in "lean construction" processes, who work throughout the project to foster collaboration between stakeholders and control the budget. They educate and inform users about the financial aspects of the process. La Dinamo has experts who assist in overall management, securing grants, financing, and managing groups.
The team is complemented by an external group of environmental and acoustic specialists who model the building to influence bioclimatic design, optimize the performance of enclosures, and improve thermal and acoustic insulation according to each location. They also provide training to users so they can understand the project's evolution in these aspects.
All these professionals continuously reviews and provides feedback at every stage of the project, from the preliminary design to the completion of the construction.
In addition to architects, Lacol includes professionals in sociology to lead participatory processes and bring this value to the project: linking future users to the process from conception to construction. The team also includes project managers specialized in "lean construction" processes, who work throughout the project to foster collaboration between stakeholders and control the budget. They educate and inform users about the financial aspects of the process. La Dinamo has experts who assist in overall management, securing grants, financing, and managing groups.
The team is complemented by an external group of environmental and acoustic specialists who model the building to influence bioclimatic design, optimize the performance of enclosures, and improve thermal and acoustic insulation according to each location. They also provide training to users so they can understand the project's evolution in these aspects.
All these professionals continuously reviews and provides feedback at every stage of the project, from the preliminary design to the completion of the construction.
Primary goal is to provide decent and affordable housing that remains outside the speculative market. This objective is ambitious in itself and particularly transformative. This is pursued through a process that actively involves the users, shifting away from the traditional public housing model of simply granting homes. Instead, the aim is to build housing as a means to build a community. Establishing new relationships within social housing construction allows for profound changes in the lifestyles of its residents, addressing their needs from both an individual and collective perspective while also considering the impact on the urban environment. We believe in the transformative power of this approach, where users are actively involved and take shared responsibility.
Conventional collective housing has historically excluded user participation. Decisions about where and how buildings are constructed have typically been made by technical experts and state authorities, significantly shaping various aspects of social life. Projects like La Morada and other cooperative initiatives seek to change this dynamic, much like participatory urban design processes have reshaped public spaces through open community involvement.
One notable aspect is that even the land is privately owned, and the construction is also driven by a private group. However, the goal remains to create housing classified as social housing. The people behind this initiative are eligible for state-promoted social housing, yet they choose to take a different approach—completely reversing the process. This shift is profoundly transformative, redefining the state's role, subsidizing the project, but it allows for greater freedom in its conception and development.
Additionally, the group behind this initiative is unique, consisting of individuals from the LGTBIQ+ community. Their aim is to create a safe space for diverse identities and collectively support those who experience social marginalization.
Conventional collective housing has historically excluded user participation. Decisions about where and how buildings are constructed have typically been made by technical experts and state authorities, significantly shaping various aspects of social life. Projects like La Morada and other cooperative initiatives seek to change this dynamic, much like participatory urban design processes have reshaped public spaces through open community involvement.
One notable aspect is that even the land is privately owned, and the construction is also driven by a private group. However, the goal remains to create housing classified as social housing. The people behind this initiative are eligible for state-promoted social housing, yet they choose to take a different approach—completely reversing the process. This shift is profoundly transformative, redefining the state's role, subsidizing the project, but it allows for greater freedom in its conception and development.
Additionally, the group behind this initiative is unique, consisting of individuals from the LGTBIQ+ community. Their aim is to create a safe space for diverse identities and collectively support those who experience social marginalization.
The methodology is primarily based on the user-building connection, collective reflection, and providing the structure necessary to strengthen the community concept.
Housing is crucial and one of the ultimate goals, but private space is set aside for much of the process to first focus on community aspects. The emphasis is placed on how we want to live—how we relate to one another inside and outside the building. These are reflections that few people have likely considered.
The process examines both subjective aspects, such as loneliness, and objective ones, like storage within the home. All of this is part of the broader concept of inhabiting. Through this process, a shared infrastructure is first built, physically representing the idea of living in community—a large collective home. However, it is important to emphasize that this is not a commune. The projects carefully define different levels of relationships until they ultimately offer private and individual living spaces.
Debating and deciding on the housing typology is also part of the participatory process, but it follows an extensive and thoughtful discussion about community spaces. This approach allows for housing to be seen as an intimate space that, in many cases, can be smaller in size because it is complemented by shared areas. This, in turn, helps reduce costs and significantly lowers energy consumption, as community spaces offer varying levels of comfort depending on their use.
The idea of co-ownership is also reflected in the architecture, allowing for transformations that would be impossible under the traditional horizontal property model. For example, homes can be combined, expanded, or reduced by shifting the boundaries between them. These aspects add flexibility to the project, which is designed with these possibilities in mind.
Housing is crucial and one of the ultimate goals, but private space is set aside for much of the process to first focus on community aspects. The emphasis is placed on how we want to live—how we relate to one another inside and outside the building. These are reflections that few people have likely considered.
The process examines both subjective aspects, such as loneliness, and objective ones, like storage within the home. All of this is part of the broader concept of inhabiting. Through this process, a shared infrastructure is first built, physically representing the idea of living in community—a large collective home. However, it is important to emphasize that this is not a commune. The projects carefully define different levels of relationships until they ultimately offer private and individual living spaces.
Debating and deciding on the housing typology is also part of the participatory process, but it follows an extensive and thoughtful discussion about community spaces. This approach allows for housing to be seen as an intimate space that, in many cases, can be smaller in size because it is complemented by shared areas. This, in turn, helps reduce costs and significantly lowers energy consumption, as community spaces offer varying levels of comfort depending on their use.
The idea of co-ownership is also reflected in the architecture, allowing for transformations that would be impossible under the traditional horizontal property model. For example, homes can be combined, expanded, or reduced by shifting the boundaries between them. These aspects add flexibility to the project, which is designed with these possibilities in mind.
La Morada itself is an example of a highly replicable model.
In 2012, a group of housing activists in Barcelona began envisioning what would later become La Morada. Inspired by models like Andel (Denmark) and FUCVAM (Uruguay), they aimed to establish the cooperatives with right-of-use model in Catalonia, adapting it to the local context. This initial vision materialized in the housing cooperative La Borda. After years of struggle, La Borda became a reality in December 2018, when its members moved in. The project has since received major international awards (such as the Mies van der Rohe and European Housing Awards). The architects at Lacol were involved in the entire process, designing the building—and even living in it—gaining invaluable firsthand experience.
With the knowledge acquired, the technical teams behind La Borda (Lacol in architecture and LCI in economics) came together to create La Dinamo Foundation, with the goal of promoting more projects of this kind. Today, La Dinamo supports over five cooperative housing projects already in operation and nine more in the development phase. As of September 2024, La Morada has entered the co-living phase, further demonstrating the replicability of the model.
Lacol Arquitectura shares this experience worldwide, participating in lectures at universities and contributing to policy development, including drafting Barcelona’s Local Housing Plan 2020-2025. La Borda was awarded the European Collective Housing Award 2024 and the Mies van der Rohe Award – Emerging 2022.
La Dinamo Foundation actively seeks to share and acquire knowledge at a European level. It is a founding member of the Commoning Spaces Network (CSN) and Community-Led Housing Europe (CHE), which brings together 20 organizations promoting cooperative housing across Europe. Additionally, it collaborates with key European entities such as MOBA, the European Community Land Trust Network, Mietshäuser Syndikat, and Politecnico di Torino
In 2012, a group of housing activists in Barcelona began envisioning what would later become La Morada. Inspired by models like Andel (Denmark) and FUCVAM (Uruguay), they aimed to establish the cooperatives with right-of-use model in Catalonia, adapting it to the local context. This initial vision materialized in the housing cooperative La Borda. After years of struggle, La Borda became a reality in December 2018, when its members moved in. The project has since received major international awards (such as the Mies van der Rohe and European Housing Awards). The architects at Lacol were involved in the entire process, designing the building—and even living in it—gaining invaluable firsthand experience.
With the knowledge acquired, the technical teams behind La Borda (Lacol in architecture and LCI in economics) came together to create La Dinamo Foundation, with the goal of promoting more projects of this kind. Today, La Dinamo supports over five cooperative housing projects already in operation and nine more in the development phase. As of September 2024, La Morada has entered the co-living phase, further demonstrating the replicability of the model.
Lacol Arquitectura shares this experience worldwide, participating in lectures at universities and contributing to policy development, including drafting Barcelona’s Local Housing Plan 2020-2025. La Borda was awarded the European Collective Housing Award 2024 and the Mies van der Rohe Award – Emerging 2022.
La Dinamo Foundation actively seeks to share and acquire knowledge at a European level. It is a founding member of the Commoning Spaces Network (CSN) and Community-Led Housing Europe (CHE), which brings together 20 organizations promoting cooperative housing across Europe. Additionally, it collaborates with key European entities such as MOBA, the European Community Land Trust Network, Mietshäuser Syndikat, and Politecnico di Torino
In a world where the economy reigns above all else, it is challenging to push forward initiatives that set aside profit and work for the common good. Housing has become a sector where large investors and tourism have distorted its fundamental purpose, creating a global crisis of pricing, supply, and demand. La Morada demonstrates that an entirely different path is possible: one based on the common good, participation, self-management, and public-private collaboration. At the same time, it highlights the transformative power of shared daily life.
Since the completion of La Borda in 2018, Lacol and La Dinamo have worked on refining and optimizing the process to clarify all technical aspects, making it easier to replicate and improve as public administrations place greater trust in the model. Addressing the housing crisis with scalable, people-centered solutions that guarantee dignified, affordable, and long-term housing is a major achievement in the face of ongoing challenges. A model that was just a dream a few years ago is now a reality, with projections for over 400 cooperative homes in Barcelona alone by the end of 2026—accounting for projects led by other organizations following the same model.
This is because the model is designed to be open source. The goal is clear: collaboration, not competition, among organizations with shared interests is what strengthens and expands the model.
We hope that, step by step, this model can extend beyond Catalonia, where it has been widely accepted. It is not meant to replace state-sponsored social housing but to complement it as a parallel alternative. The aim is to bring this approach to the rest of Spain and other parts of the European community—places where, just as in Barcelona a few years ago, there are currently no viable alternatives for social housing.
Since the completion of La Borda in 2018, Lacol and La Dinamo have worked on refining and optimizing the process to clarify all technical aspects, making it easier to replicate and improve as public administrations place greater trust in the model. Addressing the housing crisis with scalable, people-centered solutions that guarantee dignified, affordable, and long-term housing is a major achievement in the face of ongoing challenges. A model that was just a dream a few years ago is now a reality, with projections for over 400 cooperative homes in Barcelona alone by the end of 2026—accounting for projects led by other organizations following the same model.
This is because the model is designed to be open source. The goal is clear: collaboration, not competition, among organizations with shared interests is what strengthens and expands the model.
We hope that, step by step, this model can extend beyond Catalonia, where it has been widely accepted. It is not meant to replace state-sponsored social housing but to complement it as a parallel alternative. The aim is to bring this approach to the rest of Spain and other parts of the European community—places where, just as in Barcelona a few years ago, there are currently no viable alternatives for social housing.
The best proof of success is seeing the project come to life: 12 social housing units that are sustainable, self-managed, and community-driven. This allows a specific group of people—around 25 individuals—to continue living in the city without being pushed to the outskirts due to skyrocketing rent prices. More importantly, they can do so in an environment where they are free to express their sexual and gender identities without fear.
From our perspective, the most significant impact is political, making it challenging to quantify. Proving that a real alternative exists is inspiring for other groups of citizens who may want to initiate similar projects. As mentioned before, the model fosters self-management, provides open access to information for those looking to develop similar initiatives, and benefits from numerous organized groups in Barcelona eager to promote new projects. One of the city’s biggest challenges is the scarcity of available urban land, which is why it is particularly noteworthy that La Dinamo Foundation has acquired land specifically for this development.
In measurable terms, the project demonstrates strong environmental and economic benefits:
Sustainability: The building minimizes energy consumption while ensuring comfort, thanks to its low energy demand and high electricity production through a shared photovoltaic system.
Economic benefits: Residents pay a monthly fee that is 40% lower than the average rent in Barcelona. Considering that the building offers superior living conditions, advanced facilities, and additional indirect benefits, this price is remarkably affordable. The monthly payments are used to repay loans, meaning that over time, the cost will decrease—exactly the opposite of the rising rental market.
From our perspective, the most significant impact is political, making it challenging to quantify. Proving that a real alternative exists is inspiring for other groups of citizens who may want to initiate similar projects. As mentioned before, the model fosters self-management, provides open access to information for those looking to develop similar initiatives, and benefits from numerous organized groups in Barcelona eager to promote new projects. One of the city’s biggest challenges is the scarcity of available urban land, which is why it is particularly noteworthy that La Dinamo Foundation has acquired land specifically for this development.
In measurable terms, the project demonstrates strong environmental and economic benefits:
Sustainability: The building minimizes energy consumption while ensuring comfort, thanks to its low energy demand and high electricity production through a shared photovoltaic system.
Economic benefits: Residents pay a monthly fee that is 40% lower than the average rent in Barcelona. Considering that the building offers superior living conditions, advanced facilities, and additional indirect benefits, this price is remarkably affordable. The monthly payments are used to repay loans, meaning that over time, the cost will decrease—exactly the opposite of the rising rental market.
