Art and culture recovering an old space. Espai Santa Eulália by Carles Enrich Studio
10/02/2021.
[Gironella] Spain
metalocus, ANDRÉS RESTREPO
metalocus, ANDRÉS RESTREPO
Description of project by Carles Enrich Studio
Historical strata
The former church of Santa Eulàlia in Gironella dates back to the mid-fourteenth century and throughout its six centuries of history it has undergone innumerable changes of use. In 1907 the building was desacralized and underwent a series of alterations to accommodate various activities. It was initially used as a dwelling and carpentry workshop, then, in 1924, it became a pasta factory. It was later converted into a bar, involving the demolition of the original paving that was replaced by a concrete floor to accommodate drains and pipes. Finally, in 1971, Gironella Council recovered the building in a precarious state of conservation when it was transferred from the previous owner who was unable to guarantee its maintenance.
In 1984 the Local Architecture Heritage Service of Barcelona Provincial Council carried out an emergency roof repair and, in 1986, with a project by Víctor Argentí, the building was restored for use as a public multipurpose hall. This most recent intervention involved demolishing the partitions added in foregoing years, including the mezzanine in the apse, and proposed the incorporation of a new historical strata: the old street façade on Carrer Olvan was replaced by a translucent glass facing, and a wooden shelving structure was introduced to house the archive on the inside.
In 2016, due to the poor condition of the building and the lack of services and facilities, it was necessary to reformulate the space to carry out cultural activities related to the performing arts, especially dance, music and poetry. This intervention was part of a programme to recover existing buildings promoted by Gironella Council.
Intervention criteria
The project consists of reading all the historical layers and moments that have settled in Santa Eulàlia with the clear aim of highlighting the virtues of each intervention and understanding them as a sequence of layers. The planned new use requires the insertion of adapted services and an update of the facilities to comply with regulations for public space. Likewise, the deterioration of facings and floors had caused problems of leaks and damp that required urgent renovation.
1. Recovering the central space
First, the space of the central aisle was recovered to extend the useful space available. The new use does not require an archive, so the shelves were eliminated, and the closed chapels are used for storage. A birch wood floor was laid in the central part for dance and theatre rehearsals and to guarantee good insulation. To avoid differences in level, a continuous self-levelling mortar floor was laid all the way around it, adapting to the geometries of the stone walls.
2. Insertion of services
Secondly, a service nucleus was inserted into one of the chapels to guarantee accessibility. The restroom takes the form of a pine plywood box with a pine-batten facing to conceal the doorway. Due to its inertia, the underfloor heating system was not effective for occasional use and was replaced by an air renewal system designed to drive hot air through a grating that delimits the wooden floor in the central area.
3. Incorporation of the urban landscape
Thirdly, the intervention addressed the outer perimeter. The translucent facing of the façades was replaced by transparent glass that expands the field of vision, provides natural light all day, incorporates the street as a second façade and offers views of the church from the outside. Vertical structures are reinforced and added to generate a rhythm and modulation of smaller glass panes that are easier to replace in case of breakage. This facing is completed by a fabric curtain on the inside that serves to manage lighting and improve acoustics and insulation depending on the events taking place. The permeability of this facing highlights the public nature of Santa Eulàlia as an extension of the urban landscape.
Carles Enrich (Barcelona, 1980) graduated at the ETSAB in Barcelona in 2005. From the beginning of his career he has combined his professional work with research, and obtained a Master degree in Theory and Practice of Architectural Projects from the UPC where he is currently a PhD Candidate. His thesis deals with the temporary occupations in the public space in Barcelona.
Associate lecturer in Projects at the ETSAB since 2016. From 2008 to 2017, he taught Projects and Urban Design at the Reus School of Architecture and, in 2015, Projects at the ETSAV. He was also visiting professor in the Extra-Local workshop organised by Columbia GSAPP in 2019, has collaborated on international master’s degrees such as the BIARCH in 2012 and the master’s degree in Restoration at the UPC in 2014, and directed the Vertical Workshop at the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture in 2018.
Carles Enrich’s aim of producing practice-based knowledge led him in 2013 to set up Carles Enrich Studio, where he develops projects that cover the entire habitable territory, from the domestic sphere to landscape. The quality and rigour of the practice’s built work are endorsed by consecutive nominations for the European Union Mies Award (2017, 2019) and the Lisbon Triennale Début Award 2016; the Spanish Architecture and Urban Design Biennale Awards in 2016 and 2018, the FAD Opinion Prize in 2016, and the AJAC Awards in 2012, 2016 and 2018. They were also recognised in the studio’s participation in the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012, with the exhibition Context in “Architectural Rowers” in the Catalan Pavilion and, in 2016, as part of the exhibition Unfinished, which earned the Spanish Pavilion the Biennale’s Golden Lion.