GarciaGerman Arquitectos has projected this rehabilitation project of a manor house dating from the 19th century. This is located in the center of the town of Comillas, in the province of Cantabria, which stands out for its medieval and baroque buildings, but also for being one of the few places beyond Catalonia in which modernist artists have intervened. An example of this is the El Capricho building designed by Gaudí.

In fact, originally, the house contained glazed tiles on the façade from Gaudí's Palace, also built in the 19th century, which had been placed by Antonio Bona, its first owner and master builder of El Capricho. The recovery of these tiles and the design of the new chimneys strengthen the link with the historical memory of the place.
The plan, on which GarciaGerman Arquitectos has worked, is narrow and deep, typical of rural areas. This has been used by the new distribution in which autonomous sections have been organized around the housing section.

In this way, a programmatic stacking structure can be observed: the floor of the bedrooms is located between the kitchen-dining spaces on the ground floor and the leisure area on the top. All of this culminates in a double-height room on the top floor, ideal for meetings and with magnificent views of the Picos de Europa and the Cantabrian Sea.

 

Description of project by GarciaGerman Arquitectos

The project comprises a complete refurbishment and partial reconstruction of a XIXth Century baronial listed house situated in the centre of the town. 

Given the characteristically deep plan typical of these originally rural lots, the new distribution takes advantage of this elongation by organizing autonomous episodes along the house’s section, fitted for a required intense use by a large family. This is materialized in a programmatic piling-up with the bedroom floor located between the spaces of kitchen-dining room in the ground floor and the social area on top. The ascending sequence culminates in a double-height living room on the top floor, suitable for social gatherings, and where much-sought views towards mountains (Picos de Europa) and sea (Mar Cantábrico) are reached. The sea’s focus is made explicit in the new north façade, which lightens up in an upward sequence topped by a lookout, in a contemporary version of the restored south façade. The inversion of the conventional hierarchy between programmes, with the placement of the social areas on top, makes up for the houses tight urban constrains but also stages an organizational diagram which prompts a playful use of these spaces. 

In contrast with this massive stone-walled architecture, the general tone of interior finishes relies in extensive use of natural wood and pastel tones with reconstructions of the original banisters, loggia and other elements.    

The initial ruin contained a set of glazed tiles in its façade, relocated from the nearby El Capricho Palace, built in the XIXth century by Antonio Gaudí. These pieces were originally placed, in 1884 and in the exact position where they have now been restored, by Antonio Bona, an italian, the house’s first owner and who was also El Capricho’s master builder. The retrieval of these tiles, together with the design of the house’s new smokestacks, fortifies the bond and memory between the ancestral typology of this architecture and the extraordinary cultural flourishment of Art-Nouveau in Comillas, still a major feature of this small town’s charm. 

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Architects
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Design team
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Jacobo García-Germán, Raquel Díaz de la Campa, Miguel López, Marta Roldán, Jorge Ferrer, Iván Corbacho, María Salán, Paloma Mayor, Jaime Silva.
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Client
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Private.
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Builder
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Hermanos Vega Díaz Rehabilitaciones S.L.
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Consultants
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Quantity surveyor.- Ángel David Moreno. Structural engineers.- Aguanaz. Mechanicals.- Suma Ingeniería Aplicada S.L.
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Location
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Comillas, Santander, Spain.
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Jacobo García-Germán (1974) is an architect by the Madrid Polytechnic (ETSAM), M.Arch. by the Architectural Association, and PhD European Doctor (cum laude, ETSAM 2010). After collaborating with Rafael Moneo (1998-2001), he established GARCIAGERMAN ARQUITECTOS in 2003.

Since 2005 he is a teacher in the Madrid Polytechnic (ETSAM), currently teaching at the Thesis Group APFC with Professor Juan Herreros, besides co-directing the MPAA Máster y Doctorado en Proyectos Arquitectónicos Avanzados at ETSAM (2015-).

He has taught in different universities in Spain; ETSAM (2005-), Escuela de Arquitectura de Pamplona (2012), Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Madrid (2011-2014), Universidad Camilo José Cela, Madrid (2003-2004), UPC-La Salle Tarragona (2009), and worldwide; Liubliana Architecture Faculty (2010), Escola da Cidade Sao Paulo (2010), Universidad Javeriana Bogotá (2007-2009), and FeBelCem in Antwerp (2008), having also been visiting critic at Columbia University, NY (2012), Cornell University, NY (2012), Universidad Católica de Lima (2011), IE Instituto de Empresa, Segovia (2011), Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid (2011) Universidad Europea, Madrid (2006-2009) and Architectural Association, London (2005).

He is co-founder of the Symmetries platform for teaching and has directed workshops in Split, Rome and Lisbon. He has been curator for several exhibitions. 

Among the awards obtained by GarciaGerman Architects are: XIV BEAU Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism Award (2018), Mies van der Rohe Finalist of the European Union Architecture Prize (2019), CEMEX Award (2018), Finalist FAD (2018) ), Outstanding Award (2017), Selection of the Enor Prize (2017), FAD Award (2013), Selection of the European Union Architecture Award Mies van der Rohe (2009), First European Prize (2001 and 2009), Awards of the Madrid City Council (2003 and 2007) and EMVS First Prize (2003 and 2004). The work of the office has been widely published and exhibited. Clients: Ministry of Development, Ministry of Finance and Public Administration, Embassies of Spain in Ljubljana, Sofia and Tokyo, Cervantes Institute, EMVS Madrid, UPM-Polytechnic University of Madrid, Government of Cantabria, Madrid City Council, Municipality of Nacka (Stockholm) , Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago), Acciona Inmobiliaria, Reyal Urbis, Eurocís, Isolux Corsán, Gilmar, Ciudalcampo SL. He has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Pavilion of the XV Biennial of Architecture of Venice 2016 (Golden Lion Award), and currently codirects Architecture, official magazine of the Board of Architects of Madrid (COAM).




 
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