Seville City Council grants initial approval to the first Planning Study for structural refurbishment in the Torreblanca area
Seville City Council has given the green light to the Planning Study (Estudio de Ordenación) promoted by Caralca and drafted by EDDEA for plot IMA-1 in the Torreblanca area, setting a historic precedent as the first initiative of its kind to be approved in the Andalusian capital. The scheme will transform three unfinished concrete structures, relics of the pre-2008 property bubble, into a modern residential complex that embraces today’s most demanding sustainability criteria.
The proposal comprises buildings of up to five storeys arranged around a central square that will act as the backbone of the new urban fabric. The project includes an underground car park for more than 400 vehicles and two-, three- and four-bedroom homes, sized to meet the housing needs of a neighbourhood whose residential stock is in urgent need of renewal.
As a distinguishing feature, the operation makes it possible to recycle more than 25,000 square metres of existing structure, avoiding unnecessary demolition and significantly reducing the scheme’s ecological footprint. It is a firm commitment to regenerative urbanism, which puts the reuse of existing resources ahead of consuming new land or generating additional waste.
“This project not only allows us to close an urban wound left open since the crisis, it also proposes a model for intervening efficiently, sustainably and realistically in many other areas with obsolete structures,” explains Luis Ybarra, founding partner of EDDEA. “It is a formula the city needs to explore further,” the architect adds.
EDDEA’s technical team has developed an urban layout that strengthens pedestrian accessibility and connections with the established fabric around it. The design strategy incorporates communal spaces, landscaped areas and solar access criteria that guarantee the environmental quality of the whole. The central square, meanwhile, is conceived as a meeting point for residents and a green lung for the new street network.
The approval of this first Planning Study in Seville for the structural conversion of abandoned buildings opens up a new paradigm towards smarter, more circular forms of urban growth. The initiative places Caralca and EDDEA at the forefront of urban regeneration in consolidated areas, establishing a replicable model for similar schemes across the city.
EDDEA, based in Seville, is a studio specialising in sustainable architecture and urban planning that has delivered landmark projects across Andalusia. Caralca, for its part, is an Andalusian developer with a well-established track record in residential schemes.