{"id":263293,"date":"2025-10-09T16:13:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T20:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?page_id=263293"},"modified":"2025-10-24T16:26:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T20:26:04","slug":"unviversity-of-huelva-loop-homes-dormitory-martin-lejarraga","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/unviversity-of-huelva-loop-homes-dormitory-martin-lejarraga\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside A Pastel-Hued University Residence In Southern Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Four accommodation wings extend like the teeth of a comb from the building\u2019s spine, bringing light and ventilation to the 440 rooms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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October 9, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n

Text: <\/span>Michael Snyder<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>Juanca Lagares<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Inside A Pastel-Hued University Residence In Southern Spain<\/h1>\n\n\n

While the Burjassot housing was an entirely private initiative, another RYA-Lejarraga project\u2014the recently built Loop Homes dormitory for the University of Huelva in southern Spain\u2014resulted from winning a competition. Founded in 1993, the university occupies a former infantry barracks at the edge of the historic Andalusian port town, just 25 miles from the Portuguese border. Until last year, it was also the only institution of higher learning in the region without a residence hall\u2014hence the call for proposals to develop and manage one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to height restrictions imposed by the municipality and the university\u2014and aiming to maximize room count\u2014Mart\u00edn Lejarraga<\/a> configured the six-story, 113,000-square-foot building in the shape of a comb: a slab spine from which four residential blocks project like teeth, with interstitial gardens between them providing light, ventilation, and, he notes, \u201ca strong proportion between solid and void.\u201d Zoning requirements left open spaces at the site perimeter for a swimming pool and outdoor exercise facilities while, inside, common spaces are split horizontally across the ground floor, with the base of each residential block dedicated to a different use: dining, coworking, lounge, and gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The building\u2019s long facades, punctured with orderly processions of windows, are rendered in the same blazing white plaster that coats houses and churches throughout Andaluc\u00eda, while the blind end walls of the serrated blocks are clad in pale-blue sheet steel\u2014a color that references the local soccer club and so, as Lejarraga observes, \u201cis very much of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Mart\u00edn Lejarraga Revitalizes This University Dorm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Ceiling ductwork is left exposed in the ground-floor commons at Loop Homes Huelva, a student residential hall servicing the Andalusian city\u2019s young university in Spain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Four accommodation wings extend like the teeth of a comb from the building\u2019s spine, bringing light and ventilation to the 440 rooms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A single room\u2019s built-in desk and storage is painted to match the lacquered-steel panels cladding the building\u2019s blind end walls\u2014also the color of Real Club Recreativo, Huelva\u2019s soccer team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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With its plaster finish and grid of windows, the building evokes the whitewashed walls and simple geometric forms of Andaluc\u00eda\u2019s vernacular architecture.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Custom bleacher seating and Isaac Pi\u00f1eiro\u2019s Chat ottomans join beanbags and a ping-pong table in the game room.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
PRODUCT SOURCES<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n

FROM FRONT<\/strong>
RESOL: <\/strong>MODULAR SOFA (COMMONS). SANCAL:<\/strong> ROUND SOFAS (COMMONS), OTTOMANS (COMMONS, GAME ROOM). FARO BARCELONA:<\/strong> TRACK LIGHTING, SCONCES (COMMONS, GAME ROOM). INCLASS: <\/strong>DESK CHAIR (SINGLE ROOM). DECATHLON: <\/strong>PING-PONG TABLE (GAME ROOM). EUROPERFIL: <\/strong>STEEL PANELING (EXTERIOR). SAINT-GOBAIN WEBER: <\/strong>PLASTER.
THROUGHOUT<\/strong>
TITAN: <\/strong>PAINT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n