Project material
- Category
- Affordable Housing
- Typology
- Social Housing
- Year
- 2025
- Area
- 21,298 m² site
- Program
- 808 apartments
- Location
- Copacabana, Antioquia
- Address
- Calle 50 entre carreras 28 y 29
- Neighborhood
- San Juan / La María
Bosques de Copacabana
Bosques de Copacabana occupies a large site in Copacabana, Antioquia, in the Aburrá valley: the Medellín river runs to the west, the La Chuscala creek to the east, Avenida Fundadores to the north, and the La María neighborhood lies to the south. The brief was social housing at large scale —808 apartments— in a place where water and trees arrive before the city does.
The project distributes those homes across eight twelve-floor towers built in three phases, with two families of tower: the linear tower, with seven apartments per floor, and the L-shaped tower, with ten. The unit type does not degrade with scale: all 808 apartments have a kitchen, living-dining room, laundry area and a balcony, and a flexible plan with two or three bedrooms.
The name is not decorative: the forest is not what is left over, it is the structure that gives shape to the void, sets the paths and builds the edge of the complex against the landscape. Between the towers the ground opens into meadows and tall trees, and the land cessions extend Carrera 29 from the Torres de la María development to the setback of the Aburrá river, so the neighborhood gains a passage toward the riverbank. The result is not a housing complex with green areas: it is an inhabited forest.
The facade works in two directions. The light-toned brick is laid in continuous horizontal bands that run the full length of the volume and lower the perceived height of the twelve floors; over that order, the balconies shift floor by floor, break the repetition of the module and cast shadows that change through the day. On the lower levels the brick plinth accompanies the pedestrian route and settles the meeting between forest and building.
A mixed-use building concentrates the parking and puts retail at street level: the first phase brings 4,442 m² of parking and 521 m² of communal areas, where the 122.37 m² pool opens onto a 153.37 m² beach; the second completes the building and adds 657.86 m² of retail.
More about the project›
Bosques de Copacabana (green living). The vegetation does not fill what is left over: it is the structure that shapes the void, defines the paths and builds the edge of the project against the landscape. The result is not a complex with green areas but an inhabited forest. This housing project in Antioquia commits to sustainability through bioclimatic design, energy efficiency, electric mobility and environmental education programmes, becoming a new urban model that brings together nature, community and well-being.
A forest among twelve floors
The first sketch placed the trees before the towers: on a 2.1-hectare block beside the La Chuscala creek, the question was how to house 808 homes without filling the ground. The answer was to concentrate height in twelve floors and split it into two types —the linear and the L— combined to leave the terrain free for meadows and shade. Parking was grouped into a mixed-use building that also activates the street with retail, and the project was staged in three phases so each delivery arrives with its share of common space.
The block. 21,298 m² in Copacabana, in the Aburrá Valley, beside the La Chuscala creek. The brief: 808 social housing units. The forest first. The first sketch placed the trees before the towers: the forest is the structure that shapes the void. Park walks. The paths are drawn among the trees before the towers: 2,880 m² of clay pavers, washed granite and concrete. Four linear towers. Elongated twelve-storey volumes with seven flats per floor: 83 homes in each tower. Four L-shaped towers. Angled pieces paired to open courtyards and diagonal views to the forest; ten flats per floor. The mixed-use building. It gathers the parking to free the ground: lobby and hall below, shops and gym at street level and a rooftop pool. Horizontal order. Light brick bands running end to end lower the perceived height; balconies shift floor by floor.
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Green life
Topography and tree mass as the matrix of the site plan.
The forest is not what is left over: it is the structure that gives shape to the void, sets the paths and builds the edge of the project against the landscape. The result is not a housing complex with green areas; it is an inhabited forest.
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Permeability and forest–tower connection
Three types —linear, L-shaped and communal— arranged to create courtyards.
The complex is organized around three pieces: four linear towers, elongated volumes; four L-shaped towers, angled pieces that pair up to open courtyards and diagonal views toward the forest; and the communal building, which gathers the shared facilities and closes the central axis.
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Park-like paths
The route home crosses the forest before it reaches the door.
The ground of the complex is understood as a continuous park. The paths are not service circulation: they are routes that invite you to walk, to stop and to discover. Gentle changes of level, permeable paving, native planting and in-between resting places make up a stroll where arriving home is also a moment of the day. The resident crosses the landscape before crossing the threshold.
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Open-air spaces for connection and community
Outdoor theater, fitness circuit, yoga, picnic and pet areas spread along the green route.
Community life moves outdoors. Picnic areas, an outdoor theater, children's play areas, a yoga area, a pet area and shaded spots are spread among the towers so that community is built on the everyday route and not only in the social room. They are small-scale spaces, easy to make your own, meant for spontaneous use and connected to nature.
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Dynamism and horizontality
Horizontal brick bands and staggered balconies: order and movement on a single facade.
On the facade the brick is laid in continuous horizontal bands that run the full length of the volume, and that reading reduces the perceived height and brings the tower closer to human scale. Over that order comes the dynamism: the balconies shift floor by floor from left to right, break the repetition of the module and cast shadows that change through the day. Order in the horizontal, movement in the vertical.
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Base and human scale
The brick plinth sets the pedestrian scale and settles the meeting with the park.
The base is the strip where the building becomes close at hand. On the first levels the brick takes over and accompanies the pedestrian route: above it the tower reads light, and below, at hand height, the material offers texture, depth in the openings and shade at the entrances. The boundary between forest and building is not perceived as a wall, but as an inhabited edge.
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The same plan comes with one, two or three bedrooms: interior walls are added or left out to suit the stage of the family living in it.
Corner apartment · 1 bedroomStarting out
One bedroom. The corner gives it two facades: living, dining and kitchen take light from two sides and open onto the balcony.
Corner apartment · 2 bedroomsGrowing
Two bedrooms. Without the third, the living room keeps its width, the cross light and a generous gathering space by the balcony.
Corner apartment · 3 bedroomsStaying
Three separate bedrooms. The partition splits in two and the social area draws in beside the kitchen.
Mid-row apartment · 1 bedroomStarting out
One bedroom. The linear plan leaves a living-dining room that runs the facade end to end.
Mid-row apartment · 2 bedroomsGrowing
Two bedrooms, one at each end. The living-dining room gains depth and opens in one view to the kitchen.
Mid-row apartment · 3 bedroomsStaying
Three bedrooms, for families who put private space first. The partition splits in two without moving bathrooms or kitchen.
Corner apartment Mid-row apartment - 07 / 07
Daylight and cross ventilation
Daylight and airflow in the three-bedroom plan.
The plan was tested with daylight and airflow simulations. Light enters through the balcony facade and reaches the living room and all three bedrooms; air comes in through the facade windows and leaves through the bathrooms and the laundry area, crossing the apartment from side to side.
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