The practice of Carles Enrich Studio, based in Barcelona, was commissioned to design the consolidation of the surviving remains and the reinforcement of the medieval structure of the remains of the heritage site of the castle of Merola.

It is located atop a hill overlooking the Llobregat River, in the south of Puig-reig, a municipality and town in the comarca of Berguedà, Barcelona, España.
The detachment of a part in 2016 and the high risk of collapse, called for an intervention to guarantee the preservation of the remains with two basic lines of intervention adopted by Carles Enrich Studio: the consolidation of the surviving remains and the reinforcement of the medieval structure.

Reinforcement is a timber structure resolving the functional conditions and establishes a dialogue with the pre-existing stone wall.

The insertion of a stairway inside the structure provides access to the upper level of the tower recovers a point of view that had been inaccessible since the fifteenth century.
 

Project description by Carles Enrich

In the south of the municipality of Puig-reig stand the remains of the heritage site of the castle of Merola, dating from the late thirteenth century. Due to the documented earth tremors that shook Catalonia in the 1500s, only one of the faces of the defense tower, originally with a rectangular plant of 5 x 3,8 m and 14,8 m height, is still standing. The detachment of a part of its coronation in 2016 puts Puig-reig Town Council on alert. The high risk of collapse, with the subsequent loss of the monument, called for an intervention to guarantee the preservation of the remains and recover the building for the village and as an attraction for visitors.

Two basic lines of intervention were adopted to meet these aims: the consolidation of the surviving remains and the reinforcement of the medieval structure. Reinforcement takes the form of a timber structure comprising 18 sections of 14-cm square that follow the original perimeter of the stone wall. Like scaffolding, it structurally stabilizes the pre-existing construction, recovers the original volume and restores its function in the territory as a lookout and defense point.

The new structure resolves the functional reinforcement conditions and establishes a dialogue with the pre-existing stone wall, evidencing the intervention with respect to the original construction. The missing foundation is recovered with lime concrete and the two structures are tied using wooden profiles anchored to the stone canvas at 14 points.

The insertion of a stairway inside the structure provides access to the three original levels of circulation and facilitates future maintenance of the monument. The ascent to the upper level of the tower recovers a point of view that had been inaccessible since the fifteenth century.

Finally, the stones found in the archaeological excavation are reused to delimit the intervention and show the original demolition material.

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Architects
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Collaborators
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Brufau Cusó (executive supervision), MASAad (structure).
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Client
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Servei de Patrimoni Arquitectònic Local (Disputació de Barcelona) and Puig-reig Town Council.
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Main contractor
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Rècop (renovation), Tallfusta (timber structure).
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Area
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Surface area.- 40 sqm (tower) + 160 sqm (surroundings).
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Dates
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2016 -2019
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Photography
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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.

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Published on: January 20, 2020
Cite: "Rebuilding and renovation without touching. Merola's Tower by Carles Enrich" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/rebuilding-and-renovation-without-touching-merolas-tower-carles-enrich> ISSN 1139-6415
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