MVRDV + GRAS uplift mallorcan neighborhood with a collection of vibrant building designs

MVRDV and GRAs complete phase one of ‘project gomila’ 

MVRDV and GRAS Reynés Arquitectos have completed the first five out of seven buildings that make up ‘Project Gomila’ in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Together, these vibrant structures give new life to the area around Plaza Gomila in the El Terreno neighborhood by boasting their indivdiual character through distinct colors, materials, and rooflines. Adding a total of 60 new dwellings of various sizes and types, as well as new commercial spaces, the project is already creating a visible shift in the neighborhood by slowly coating it with vibrant, sustainable, and green qualities. 

‘Project Gomila’ top view | image © Jannes Linders

a colorful mix of residential and commercial spaces 

Centered around Plaza Gomila, close to the city’s harbour, El Terreno is a historic neighborhood of Palma with a renowned nightlife landscape that peaked during the ‘60s and ‘70s, hosting performances by musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, and Tom Jones in its bohemian nightclubs. After a long period of neglect and decline, the Fluxà Family, owners of the Mallorca-based Camper shoe brand, purchased a series of neighboring plots around the Plaza, initiating a renewal plan, ‘Project Gomila’, that echoed Camper’s philosophy of combining heritage with innovation and creativity.

The five buildings completed in phase one by MVRDV (see more here) and GRAS (here) include the all-white Gomila Center, which forms the heart of the neighborhood. A renovated 1979 design by architect Pere Nicolau, the building features a spacious patio on the ground floor, with a restaurant, office spaces, and apartments rising around this central feature in a series of stepping terraces and balconies. Next to the Gomila Center are the red townhouses known as Las Casitas, topped by rooftop terraces where neighboring residents can socialize. 

Gomila Center, sitting next to the Las Casitas townhouses | image © Daria Scagliola

On the other side of the Gomila Center, located on a prominent street corner, is Las Fabri-Casas, a set of row houses with a saw-tooth roof completed with blue ceramic façades. Tucked behind it is a low-carbon apartment building made from compressed earth blocks, with a communal rooftop swimming pool offering views towards the nearby Bellver Castle. Finally, across the street  is the green La Plaza, a renovated building hosting a revival of the historic bar Bellver, offices, and a communal rooftop with views of the bay and the cathedral.

Las Casitas townhouses rooftop | image © Daria Scagliola

The ‘Project Gomila’ buildings are energy neutral, using many of the same principles developed for the Passivhaus standard including high thermal efficiency and passive climate control measures such as shutters and cross ventilation to reduce energy needs. To take advantage of Mallorca’s generous sunny hours, the rooftops host solar panels while heat recovery systems further reduce the buildings’ energy consumption. Many of the materials have been sourced locally, reducing the carbon produced by the construction.

‘In terms of urbanism, the concept revolves around the diversity of the buildings,’ adds MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. ‘Where some of the designs are more suited to family homes, others are more suited for apartments for singles or couples; where some buildings are fully residential, others bring commercial functions into the mix. This diversity of people and spaces will help bring back El Terreno’s lost vibrancy.’

interior of the red townhouses | image © Daria Scagliola

‘The Gomila Project activates a new centrality in Palma, a new meeting and reference point not just for the people in the neighbourhood, but for all the citizens,’ adds Guillermo Reynés, founder of GRAS Reynés Arquitectos.

According to MVRDV and GRAS, the project has been very well received by locals, bringing back good memories that Palmesanos had of the area. The following phases of the project will add two further buildings to the ensemble: the yellow Casa Virginia, and a small villa next to Gomila Center, both renovations of existing neighborhood buildings.

interior of the red townhouses | image © Daria Scagliola

Las Fabri-Casas, a set of row houses with blue ceramic façades | image © Daria Scagliola

Las Fabri-Casas boasts a saw-tooth roof | image © Jannes Linders

the blue-toned building sits on a prominent street corner | Daria Scagliola

interior of Las Fabri-Casas | image © Daria Scagliola

Gomila Center forms the heart of the neighborhood | image © Jannes Linders

1/13

image © Jannes Linders

image © MVRDV

Las Fabri-Casas

La Plaza

Las Casitas

rammed earth building

Casa Virginia

Gomila Center

image © Daria Scagliola

image © Daria Scagliola

image © Daria Scagliola

image © Daria Scagliola

image © MVRDV

project info:

name: Project Gomila

location: El Terreno, Palma, Mallorca, Spain 

project period: 2018-2023 

client: Doakid & Forch Med 

total area: 15,000 sqm 

architecture: MVRDV | @mvrdv + GRAS Reynés Arquitectos | @grasreynesarquitectos

MVRDV founding partners in charge: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs

MVRDV partner: Fokke Moerel 

MVRDV concept design team: Jose Ignacio, Velasco Martin, Jonathan Schuster, Samuel Delgado, Mathias Pudelko, Marek Nosek, Jonas Andresen, Alicja Pawlak

MVRDV schematic design team: Jose Ignacio Velasco Martin, Jonathan Schuster, Samuel Delgado, Mathias Pudelko, Marek Nosek, Jonas Andresen, Alicja Pawlak, Simone Costa, Ranmalie Mataraachchi, Carl Jarneving

MVRDV detail design team: Jose Ignacio, Velasco Martin, Samuel Delgado

GRAS reynés arquitectos team: Guillermo Reynes, Mayca Sánchez Carvajal, Alejandro Domingo Leal, Mikolaj Zajda, Giacomo Sorino, Mariano Esposito

contracting: Ferratur, Bibiloni, Tarraco

structural engineering, MEP, + cost calculation: EA Engineers Assessors

graphic design: Mario Eskenazi, Arauna Studio

photography: © MVRDV, GRAS, Jannes Linders, Daria Scagliola