Torre Bolueta is a public-housing project in the Bolueta district of Bilbao, in Spain’s Basque Country. Its developer is Visesa, the Basque Government’s public housing company; the design was developed with VArquitectos and the building work was carried out by Construcciones Sukia.710
The 28-storey tower is 88 metres high and contains 171 homes: 108 officially protected homes for sale and 63 social-rental homes, mostly intended for rent.10 Construction began in 2015, and the building was completed in 2018. It received Passive House certification in 2018, making it the world’s tallest certified residential building under that standard at the time.64
The project’s energy measures include thermal insulation, airtight construction, high-performance windows and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery. These features were intended to reduce heating demand substantially; the 2017 announcement projected a reduction of up to 75 percent.10 The project was presented by Iñaki Arriola, then the Basque Government’s Minister for the Environment, Territorial Planning and Housing. Architect Germán Velázquez was among the VArquitectos team responsible for adapting the design to meet the Passive House standard.102
The tower is part of a wider Bolueta urban development planned to include seven blocks and 1,100 homes, combining protected and market-rate housing. Torre Bolueta was the first building in the wider development.10