Clau Mestra is a housing cooperative project born from the local neighbor's fight against housing speculation and to reclaim the use of abandoned buildings. Clau Mestra is part of Sostre Civic, a housing cooperative developer that aims to promote an alternative housing model, fairer and more accessible, not-for-profit and transformative. The project emerged from a public-cooperative collaboration and consisted on the renovation of the old school teacher's houses using eco-social values.
Local
Spain
La Floresta (Sant Cugat)
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-06-20
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Sostre Cívic SCCL Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Nina Last name of representative: Turull Puig Gender: Female Nationality: Spain If relevant, please select your other nationality: Spain Function: Project Manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Casp 43 baixos Town: Barcelona Postal code: 08010 Country: Spain Direct Tel:+34 722 82 06 60 E-mail:nina@sostrecivic.cat Website:https://sostrecivic.coop
URL:https://twitter.com Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): sostrecivic
URL:https://instagram.com Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): sostrecivic
The project started before 2015, when the citizens of La Floresta (Sant Cugat neighborhood) reclaimed the use of that abandoned building to transform it into a social housing for the neighbors. The citizens' mobilization took effect on the municipality government, which lent the building to Sostre Civic to transform it into a housing cooperative project. Sostre Civic is a housing cooperative developer with more than 1100 members that promotes the right-to-use model, guaranteeing collective property beyond the development phase. The project was funded by Fiare ethical bank, Sant Cugat City Council, Catalonia Government and the members of the cooperative. Thanks to the public-cooperative collaboration and to the municipal commitment of creating affordable housing, the people that live in this project are paying less money than a regular social housing project. The project’s development is based on active democracy, which is applied in all the project phases: the architectural design, construction development and the management of their living. For doing so, the members of the project are organized through working committees and take their decisions in general assemblies collectively. The project consisted on the renovation and extension of the old school teacher's houses, transforming 6 semi-detached houses into 11 dwellings and one collective space. The building intervention promoted the conservation of historical heritage design through using bioconstruction materials, nZEB standards and implementing the collectivisation of the common services. The construction process was also very innovative: 20% was self-built by the members of the cooperative whereas the 80% remaining was conducted by the first construction cooperative company in Spain, La Constructiva. The recuperation of the collective historical memory of the old school house building to promote social housing reinforced the project with the local community.
Social cooperative housing
Reuse of abandoned historical heritage
Collective self-built
Inclusive, universal and participatory process design
Sustainable construction
Energy efficiency, water saving, low carbon construction and collectivisation of common services were the main objectives of the project regarding sustainability, and all of them have been met. The project consisted of two parts: the renovation of the existing building and the extension of it. The renovation was conducted using bioconstruction materials, reusing the materials from the deconstruction process such as bricks and concrete, and applying local materials that are present in the building surroundings such as lime and gravel. Both the renovation and the extension followed nZEB and passive standards such as addition of thermal insulation on the existing facade, constructing under airtightness design, and installing renewable energy systems such the biomass thermal system for collective use. Also a wastewater treatment system was installed in the old foundations of the existing building to insure water saving. The new extension structure is made of local timber, which some parts are visible from the inside by petition of the members of the project. To ensure energy efficiency, a monitoring system was installed which collects energy, water and thermal data. This infrastructure allows the members of the project to know their real energy consumption, study the energy performance of the installed system and identify potential measures to improve it. The most innovative intervention of this project is the collectivisation of some of the common services. This means that energy and the internet are contracted as a single user (even if the building project is formed by 11 families). This implementation means less energy costs, less materials consumption and provides legally the right-to-use model as an alternative housing model that challenges the housing market system and minimizes energy poverty rates.
The project aims to be an example for the reconversion of public heritage into an eco-social project that benefits the local community. The building renovation and extension project consisted of transforming 6 semi-detached houses into 11 dwellings and one collective space. The architectural design proposed by Zaga Architecture was based on flexibility and adaptability, allowing practical dwelling reconversion in line with the needs of future members. The architects also took into consideration the aesthetics of the natural park that surrounds the building by using timber as the main structural material. The local landscape was also connected to the building: the views from the windows are like nature drawings making the users feel calm and quiet. The development of the project impacted positively on the members' empowerment for several reasons. First, to gain public recognition for transforming an abandoned building into a social housing project. Second, to give an example for developing an alternative housing model based on right-to-use successfully. Third, to contribute to the project design through a participatory process.Last but not least, to collectively self-build part of the project and to claim that the building was built with their own hands. Another positive effect is the cultural knowledge acquired due to the building background, as this one was built to host the school teachers that moved around the country. As the teacher's salary was very poor, a room-house was provided from the municipality to compensate for their low income. Years later, after a long demanding process, the conditions of the teachers' salary improved and this kind of housing stock was abandoned, becoming a public and cultural heritage. As an omenage to this success, the members of the project are conducting an anthropological photographic project with the aim to connect the stories of the school teachers that lived there with the social experiences of the new inhabitants.
The public-cooperative collaboration has been a key element to achieve the affordability this project required. Sant Cugat municipality has lent to Sostre Civic a public social housing building in exchange of a symbolic annual canon, which makes the project economically feasible to the cooperative members. The municipality has also provided economic funding, and together with the ethical bank loan that has been granted, it helped to decrease the members monthly fee below the regular price/sq2 that limits the social housing policy. Because of this collaboration and thanks to the municipal commitment of creating affordable housing, the cooperative members that live in this project are paying less money than a regular social housing project. This represents that vulnerable collectives that could have been excluded from this social economic range can have access to it. The cooperative model right-to-use that Sostre Civic promotes is based on the active democracy and members participation during the development of the project and the management of their living. The assambleary dynamics where everyone has the right to speak up and vote creates empowerment and sense of belonging to the project, willing to take care of it and to spread its benefits. When it comes to the politics of daily life, the member's housing group are organized through seven working committees: economy, architecture, self-build, governance, caring, communication and maintenance. These committees are coordinated with Sostre Civic's technical team. The project most important decisions are taken in the group's assembly every two weeks, where all members participate and decide together. This horizontal and democratic governance structure, together with a technical team support in the decision making process and assessing the group on the interpretation of the required information, is key to promote members inclusion and their belonging to the project under the same living conditions.
The project started before 2015, when the citizens of La Floresta (Sant Cugat neighborhood) reclaimed the use of that abandoned building to transform it into a social housing for the neighbors. The citizens' mobilization took effect on the municipality government, which lent the building to Sostre Civic to transform it into a housing cooperative project. At that moment, a seed group was created and Clau Mestra group was officially launched. Clau Mestra is an intergenerational group formed by 16 adults and 8 children from the neighborhood. As a cooperative housing project, democracy is a key item when it comes to developing a project. Regarding the architectural design the interior distribution was defined through a participatory process based on two social research methodological tools: a situational survey and working sessions. The process took into consideration the individual needs to create a collective proposal where all members' demands and requirements were reflected. To decrease the construction cost of the project, the members of the project have self-build collectively part of the building renovation process. This stage took place during the summer holidays, which allowed them to be more efficient to deconstruct some parts of the building and to invite others to collaborate with the project. The collective self-build process helped the members to connect and relate to the project and the people that will live there. During this last stage, the members keep being the protagonists of all that is related to the building, both individual and collective dimension. That means the members are the main responsible for the building maintenance, as well as the economic and financial issues and the community governance. As the project is to be connected with the neighborhood and become an example of what can be done with abandoned architecture, a collective space within the building is planned to be open to the public.
The economical support received from Sant Cugat municipality and their heritage transfer have been key to develop the project. Their project follow up was important to achieve the goals of the cooperative, as well as their predisposition to contribute into the optimal project development. The affordability of the project was also possible thanks to the funding of Fiare ethical bank, the Catalan Government and the members of the cooperative. Going back to the local level, Zara Architecture proposed a design aligned with the social character of the project which also permitted connecting the building with the surrounding nature and its heritage background. The integrative and universal design proposed by the architect together with inputs from the participatory process created a final design that responded to the needs of the project. The experience of Som Habitat in collective self-build projects allowed the project members to develop their construction tasks safely, on schedule and with self-confidence. The rest of the building construction (80%) was executed by La Constructiva, the first construction cooperative company in Spain. Their participation guaranteed the project's affordability under ethical, social and sustainable principles. The value obtained from this collaboration is that (1) the project contains parameters of the social economy and sustainability. (2) the company has responded to the challenges of housing cooperativism with success. (3) thanks to the active participation of the group and the transparency character of La Constructiva repetitive tasks and expenses were eliminated and construction costs were adjusted and (4) the margin obtained for being a non-profit construction company helped to promote collective self-building and to cut down the total construction cost.
Clau Mestra can be considered a multi-integrative project that embraces environmental and economical sustainability, cultural heritage recovering and inclusive and affordable housing. As previously mentioned, Sostre Civic promotes the right-to-use housing cooperatives, a model where collective property is guaranteed beyond the development phase. Within the right to use model, the ownership belongs to the cooperative and its members have the right to use the dwellings indefinitely. This means that the model is replicable and can ensure permanent affordability. The public-cooperative collaboration with Sant Cugat municipality and their economic loan permitted the project to be developed with less cooperative investment and to pay lower monthly fees in comparison with other social housing projects. The renovation and extension of the existing building was designed under sustainable nZEB standards and healthy materials. The dwelling's interior design is meant to be flexible and adaptable, practical dwelling reconversion in line with the needs of future members. The outdoor walkway that is designed to be the access to the different dwellings and at the same time an extra outdoor terrace space, allow the users to experience and feel the health environment of the natural park. The use of the renewable energy systems ensure the energy efficiency and the environmental sustainability of the project over the coming years. The participatory process that took place to define the dwelling's interior design and the common space together with the collective self-build process promoted the practice of mutual aid support. This fact provided an added inclusive social character to the project. The recuperation of the collective historical memory of the old school house building to promote social housing allowed the project to be engaged with the local community. Thus Clau Mestra is an example of the recuperation of public heritage and transforming it into an eco-social project.
We are happy to say we achieved all that we have aimed for. Firstly, the implementation of an alternative housing model, environmentally sustainable, fairer and more accessible, not-for-profit, non-speculative and transformative. Sostre Civic promotes the right to use housing cooperatives, a model where collective property is guaranteed beyond the development phase. It is carried out by non-lucrative cooperatives, so no one benefits from the housing promotion and development process. The people that inhabit them are the members of the cooperative, and they participate in the cooperative governance structure. Therefore, they have the power of decision on everything that relates to the housing project: architecture, economy, governance, collective living model, among others. Secondly, affordability is one of the other pillars of the project. Thanks to the public-cooperative collaboration the members of the cooperative that live in this project are paying less money than a regular social housing project. Thirdly, the participation process based on the participation of all the project members had a positive impact to the technical project design, in the economical study, the collective self-build process and the co-living one. Fourthly, the renovation and extension of the existing building was designed under sustainable nZEB standards. The use of bioconstruction materials such local timber, recycled bricks and concrete permit the building to reduce its material embodied energy footprint. The implementation of collective energy systems (biomass thermal system, solar panels installation and water saving system) as well as the collectivisation of common services helped to minimize the monthly energy cost and energy impact of the building. Last but not least, the project has been an example to the general public for recovering public heritage and transforming it into an eco-social project that benefits the local community.
Clau Mestra is innovative by itself. It is based on an alternative housing cooperative model that is made not-for-profit, affordable, universal and transformative, which is very unusual considering the current real estate market economy and its effects on the housing stock. It is a collective project, where several agents from the public administration and the cooperativism sector have worked together to transform an abandoned building into an eco-social housing project. The building renovation and extension was designed taking into account the local knowledge and the natural features of the building surroundings, prioritizing the aesthetics and their impact on the daily life of the inhabitants. The construction process could be considered the most innovative and highlighted feature of this project, as 20% was self-built by the members of the cooperative whereas the 80% remaining was conducted by La Constructiva, the first construction cooperative company in Spain. The members of Clau Mestra decided to self-build collectively to cut down construction costs. For doing so, first the group identified which tasks from the project budget could be done by themselves. Once these were identified, a decision making process for executing them was conducted, evaluating the feasibility of executing each task (in terms of health and safety, legal responsibilities, final aesthetics) and taking into account all members personal situation (monoparental families, health problems, work and care burden, ..). From that baseline, a working plan was defined considering the timeline of the tasks, the amount of time required to execute them, and the materials and tools that the group may need. This process was a total success: around 62000€ in materials and more than 1100h working hours were cut down from the initial budget. That could not have happened without the motivation, implication and hard work of the participants of the project.
The development of the project Clau Mestra is based on the democratic participation of the cooperative members to achieve common goals. For instance, the building restoration building project was led by an architects team but it was defined and approved by the members of the cooperative that would live there. Another approach that is characteristic in the project is its self-management practice. This project would not have been possible without the cooperation among the cooperative members and their responsibility for developing the project. To ensure autonomous self-management, the project governance is organized in working committees and general assemblies. The methodology followed in the architectural design process to cover social character that the project required was to design flexible and adaptable dwellings with non generic rooms and multi functional spaces. By doing so the project could guarantee permanency and inclusivity regarding the coming future members. This flexibility and integrative approach was also applied during the construction phase, where the members of the project self-build collectively to cut down the construction cost. The use of a prefabricated timber structure also permitted the building to guarantee its good quality and sustainable performance, meaning less maintenance costs in the future. Last but not least, the project aimed to be inspiring for other ongoing development projects. For this reason the members of the project recorded all the project development process (the committees’ meetings, the collective self-build process, the institutional encounters, the prefabricated timber installation, among other moments) with the intention to share the content to the public and disseminate their project experience.
Sostre Cívic promotes the right to use housing cooperatives as an alternative to access housing, ensuring permanent affordability. It escapes from the current private property model as the main tenure form to access housing. Within the right to use model, the ownership belongs to the cooperative and its members have the right to use the dwellings indefinitely. Sostre Cívic is a multiple-project cooperative where several housing projects are developed under the same umbrella organization. The autonomy and economic management of each of them is guaranteed by the Catalan Cooperative Law so the failure of one does not affect the rest. Instead of accompanying the creation of individual cooperatives, Sostre Cívic’s unique model in Catalonia has many advantages. First, it guarantees the model and affordability in the long term, avoiding the sale of the heritage and the consequent speculation of the dwellings. Second, ensure its replicability, accumulating expertise with every project. Third, it permits the creation of mutual aid networks among projects, such as a solidarity fee. Besides, it facilitates the creation of new groups, putting in contact different members interested in the model. In fact, it is the accumulation of knowledge that makes us a key actor to contribute to the replication of cooperative housing projects both in Spain and overseas. On top of that, Sostre Cívic’s current collaboration with the European cooperative MOBA and the Co-Habitat Network shows the benefits of the knowledge transfer, as they find themselves in the early stages of the project and Sostre Cívic has just left behind as it enters the consolidation phase. One of the main elements of Sostre Cívic t that could be transferred to other contexts is the intercooperation with entities of the solidarity economy and ethical finances, since it is the construction of appropriate networks that makes possible cooperative housing to exist.
The project addressed several local problems that currently affect civil society. The access to housing was guaranteed as the project is based on the right to use model that ensures permanent affordability, where the ownership belongs to the cooperative and its members have the right to use the dwellings indefinitely. The housing model in place also ensures replicability, as it creates a mutual aid network among projects and makes it possible for members to move among projects. Moreover, once the payment of the project loan is finished, members pay a lower fee to cover the building maintenance and also to fund new projects in order to replicate the model. Both sustainability and self-management character are transversal in all the project development stages: economically, socially and environmentally speaking. The implementation of energy efficiency techniques, the use of local materials, the application of degrowth principles are some of the good practices that the project includes. The future inhabitants collectively lead and take responsibility for the project, putting efforts into empowerment, training and decision making throughout the process. The intention is to live in a more communitarian way, through mutual support, solidarity and relationship with the environment by putting people and their needs in the centre with the possibility of sharing spaces and services. The housing cooperation model also aims to promote the social market. Through intercooperation and collaboration with other local existing entities, projects and initiatives, the housing cooperative works for the social market and the solidarity economy (SSE). The intention is to share the acquired knowledge to promote similar initiatives, to incentivize alternative housing projects and disseminate the housing cooperative model among stakeholders and administrations.
