We made it! Praxis Resilient Buildings achieves Passivhaus Classic Certification for Catalonia’s first certified care home!
Praxis Resilient Buildings is proud to announce the Passivhaus Classic certification of Mirador de Gracia, Catalonia’s first certified care home designed to meet rigorous energy efficiency standards.
We made it! Praxis Resilient Buildings achieves Passivhaus Classic Certification for Catalonia’s first certified care home!
Mirador de Gracia: a groundbreaking Passivhaus certified care home in Barcelona
Praxis Resilient Buildings is proud to announce the Passivhaus Classic certification of Mirador de Gracia, Catalonia’s first certified care home designed to meet rigorous energy efficiency standards. Developed by FIATC Residencies and designed by Joaquim Rigau of GENARS, the building was certified by Micheel Wassouf of Energiehaus Arquitectos, with Oliver Style of Praxis Resilient Buildings delivering Passivhaus design, site supervision and preliminary blower door testing.
The Mirador de Gracia care home overlooks Barcelona from the Collserola hills, and is built on a challenging, sloped site. With a treated floor area of 4,600 square meters over eight floors, it includes 75 double rooms accommodating up to 143 residents, and additional facilities such as a gym, pharmacy, industrial kitchen and laundry, hair salon, seven day-rooms, and two roof gardens. The stunning sea views from this care home only add to its appeal, making it one of the most comfortable, low-energy, and draft-free residences of its kind in the region.
A new standard in comfort and energy savings
Mirador de Gracia exemplifies the potential of sustainable design for high-energy-demand buildings like care homes. With a 59 kWp roof-mounted solar photovoltaic array, this all-electric building generates around 26% of its annual energy consumption, contributing to significant operational and CO2 emission savings. Given that care homes are power hungry buildings- which require high standards of thermal comfort, 24/7 occupancy, and (in this particular case) daily production of around 469 meals—the building’s efficiency will translate into a projected 70% reduction in energy costs compared to traditional facilities.
Commitment to sustainable building
Achieving Passivhaus certification for Mirador de Gracia is the result of five years of dedicated work on Praxis’s most challenging and ambitious project to date. FIATC Residencies, the developer behind this project, is setting a new benchmark for energy-efficient care homes, with five more Passivhaus-certified facilities underway in Catalonia and Valencia. These efforts reflect a broader commitment to enhancing thermal comfort, reducing energy consumption, and cutting CO2 emissions—a triple win for residents, the environment, and operational savings.
As we continue our work on more Passivhaus care homes, this milestone represents a significant step forward in creating sustainable, high-performance buildings that prioritize both people and the planet.