MRA Apartments by GRAS Arquitectos

Located in the city of Palma de Mallorca, the MRA Apartments building by GRAS Arquitectos, with structural engineering by Mecanismo Ingeniería, is a residential building with a very unique structural solution, given its large asymmetric cantilevers and complex foundation. The building is situated at the top of the Cala Mejor neighborhood, with the natural slope of the terrain and unobstructed views of the Bay of Palma.

The building consists of two clearly differentiated volumes. At the base, a terraced volumetry, constructed with sandstone gabions typical of the island, reminiscent of traditional constructions on sloped terrain in the Balearic Islands. Above this base, there is a light volume with large cantilevers, made of steel structure and glass.

The main structure is configured with reinforced concrete walls and columns, and floor slabs and deep beams. In the center of the building, there is a core of concrete walls aligned with the vertical communication areas, serving as the backbone of the whole.

The upper volume features significant cantilevers made with flat tension walls and steel trusses, located on secondary façades and allowing a clear façade front towards the sea. The structure behaves generally like a cantilever wall to ensure stability against potential unbalanced forces from the terrain, and a deep foundation with micropiles that anchors the building properly to the ground, avoiding instability issues that could arise from a shallow foundation, as the lower support platform is left unprotected on the sea-facing front due to existing unevenness of the ground.