-
Architects: Office for Strategic Spaces
- Area: 1200 m²
- Year: 2022
-
Photographs:Simona Rota
-
Manufacturers: Carmave Matud Sistem, Eninter Ascensores, Jarrer Lighting, Mosaista, Rubinetterie Ritmonio , SANTOS
-
Lead Architect: Angel Borrego Cubero
Text description provided by the architects. The rehabilitation of La Carbonería owes its form to the diversity of intertwined stories over a century and a half. Integrating this intangible legacy into the design has been as relevant as attention paid to its structure, spaces, and energy efficiency. A modest residential building constructed in 1864, it gained notoriety in 2008 when it was occupied and two large murals were painted on its facade. Its forced evacuation in 2014 made La Carbonería a graphic and political icon of Barcelona.
In 2015, the Barcelona City Council declared it a protected heritage site as the oldest standing building in the Eixample, the innovative urban plan conceived by Ildefonso Cerdá to expand 19th century Barcelona. During its definition, there was a conflict between Cerdá and the City Council because the latter promoted large avenues and symmetries contrary to the Cerdá Plan. The conflict affected Narcís Tarragó, the original promoter of La Carbonería because if the City Council's plans had gone ahead, a boulevard would have replaced the old Camino de Ronda that touched his plot. So Mr. Tarragó decided to put facades on all four sides of the building just in case. When the great avenue was discarded, the most spectacular facade of his building remained hidden and inaccessible in a backyard for 150 years.
Heritage protection required restoring the facades to their original state, including the patio and its large windows, although now they would only face two blind walls. Since the original staircase had been demolished, we built the new one next to the elevator in the farthest corner of the patio and connected them to the facade and each apartment through "sky paths" that leap over the old Camino de Ronda, generating a three-dimensional communal space, a movement of people and effects that simulate the experience and changing vision of the boulevard that was never made. This solution also allowed us to design an additional apartment thanks to the space freed up inside the building.
We maintained the pre-existing structure despite it not being mandatory, only replacing the Catalan roof slabs because they were in poor condition. After the reinforcement work, the surplus of useful loads was used to make the roof visitable and place a 1m-deep swimming pool on the central wall.
The broken footbridges are supported without props or ties, by means of a cross of beams in the plan, achieving a structural functioning that is not evident at first glance, but that allows more freedom of layout in such a small space and a more airy appearance for the paths that lead to the door of each apartment. The large structure attached to the party wall is supported on the access footbridge to the roof, which acts as a horizontal stabilizing beam, allowing passage through it, on the ground floor and on the top floor, in addition to supporting the planters and their irrigation, the photovoltaic pre-installation, and a series of mirrors that direct sunlight into the patio in winter.
The interior distribution emphasizes the central wall, associating it with storage spaces and facilities, and two holes in it connect the interior patio, the rooms, and the Cerdá neighborhood. This solution also ensures effective cross ventilation and natural lighting that takes advantage of the entire solar path, contributing to energy savings through passive solutions. Together with the use of original, breathable materials and relatively natural finishes, such as pine wood with wax and oil, a generous space with little impact from volatile substances is achieved.
By insulating the roof together with the carpentry and glass designed to insulate thermally and, above all, acoustically from the busy Urgell Street, an energy rating of B was obtained (in this case, the average consumption of less than 60% of the local average) without the need to add insulation to the exterior facades, thus avoiding damage to the exterior and reducing space in the interior.
By regulation, the street facade had to recover its original state, and it would have been impossible to maintain the existing mural due to the deterioration of the stucco. Efforts were made to and the traditional furniture store of Mr. Garriga in the ground floor of the building was preserved.
