Walden XXI we are a group of people between 55 and 70 years than through the non-speculative housing cooperative Sostre Cívic we are creating an interesting project, the Walden XXI, in the central Costa Brava town, Sant Feliu de Guíxols.
The group is responsible for the development of the project and we organize ourselves to carry it forward, with the technical support of Sostre Cívic. In addition, being one self-managed promotion we are also training with the support of professionals to form the intentional community that will carry out the Walden XXI project.

THE ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT
The project is located in the center of Sant Feliu de Guíxols, in a building currently in disuse. It is a 6-minute walk from the beach, bus station, swimming pool and municipal gym, market and all services such as the CAP, medical center, hospital in Palamós or Girona
The project proposes a comprehensive reform of the current building for build 31 apartments there (private housing spaces). The living spaces are located on the ground floors, and will have dimensions between 37 (one bedroom) and 49 m² (with two bedrooms). All the homes have a small equipped American kitchen, dining room, large and adapted bathroom, underfloor heating, cold air conditioning, exteriors...


The project also has large community spaces (more than 20% of the project area) such as multipurpose rooms, kitchen, dining room, library-computers, laundry, storage rooms, interior garden, terraces, DIY workshops, warehouse, infirmary, physiotherapy area, etc.
You can consult the plans of the project at explanatory file.
WALDEN XXI: MORE THAN A NAME
Walden 7 is a social utopia built in 1975 and which currently manages the administration and coexistence of more than 1.000 residents. The name of the project was inspired by thework of Henry David Thoreau, best known for his book Walden or life in the woods, where he describes his reflections on a simple life in nature and away from technology. Among Thoreau's most important contributions are his writings on natural history and philosophy, in which he anticipates ecology and environmental history, two of the sources of environmentalism and degrowth theory today.

The new Walden XXI resurrects the spirit of our predecessor in the name, Walden 7, and inspiring us in the sense and meaning of the name that Thoreau gives to a simple life and the "deconstruction" of a consumerist and speculative society, especially in the housing sector for the elderly. This is how the intentional community was born, our Walden XXI in Sant Feliu de Guíxols: the first senior co-housing cooperative in Catalonia, as a supportive, collaborative, sustainable, affordable and cooperative response to commercial residences that do their business with our old age
HOW DOES THE PROCESS GO?
The Plenum of November 29, 2018 of the Sant Feliu de Guíxols City Council approved the allegations in our future project to create a cooperative housing under the model of use for the elderly in an old hotel in the city
From these lines, we would like to thank the support and advice we have had at all times from the Sant Feliu de Guíxols City Council, especially the urban planning and legal team, as well as Councilor Josep Saballs. With their involvement, they have been key to the city of Sant Feliu de Guíxols being the pioneer in Catalonia to provide a solution to non-profit cooperative residential housing for the elderly, not doubting that similar projects that will emerge in the near future will they will look at the city.
After the purchase of the property in 2020, it was entrusted to the architectural team We are Habitat the design of the project. This was done in a participatory way with the driving group to design the private and community spaces of the future building. At this moment bank financing is already approved and we are working with the architecture team to specify the technical aspects of the work, which will be done with solidarity economy and sustainability criteria. The entry to live in the project is planned throughout 2025.


Last vacant places!
If you are a member of our cooperative and have between 55 and 70 years, you can register now for project vacancies of senior cooperative housing Walden XXI, in Sant Feliu de Guíxols.
You can access the registration form this article. If you are not a member, but you are interested and want more information, you can write to info@walden21.sostrecivic.cat