VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje was commissioned for La Harinera del Grao renovation, a building very close to the port area of Valencia, a Mediterranean city in eastern Spain. The project is focused on promoting an entrepreneurship program in aspects of training and business incubator.

The complex consists of several bodies built at different times: the Harinera Building (1921), which is complemented, separated by a service patio, with the Burben Building (1941). In the 1960s it was completed with a perpendicular annex and some splendid silos, now disappeared.
The building of La Harinera restored by VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje required urgent intervention due to its state of ruin, which involved adapting the structure to its new functions, building new slabs, and stabilizing the existing facades.

The new structure manages to solve all the structural problems it had, without losing and enhancing the value of industrial architecture in the 20th century. A contemporary structure was made in precast concrete, which replaces a steel structure, which in turn had replaced what was originally a wooden structure.

With the rehabilitation, the building experiences a new life with a new use thanks to the advancement of technology while maintaining the character of its volumes and the presence of its architecture in the city.

La harinera del Grao by VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje. Photograph by David Frutos.

Project description by VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje

La Harinera del Grao is a building focused on promoting entrepreneurship, both in terms of training and business incubation, as well as in the field of innovative entrepreneurship, start-ups, social innovation, maker movement, etc. The restoration project can be described as an "in process" intervention in which the building takes on a new stage of its life - a complex life throughout which the building has been technologically adapted over time while maintaining the character of its volumes and presence in the city's architecture.

A contemporary structure of prefabricated concrete replaces what was originally a wooden structure, later made of steel, to meet technological changes but preserving the architectural qualities of this industrial heritage.

It consists of several bodies built at different times: The Flour Mill Building (1921), complemented by the Burben Building (1941) separated by a service courtyard. In the 1960s it was completed with a perpendicular annex and splendid silos that have since disappeared. The existing facades at the time of intervention and remnants from industrial archaeology were basic elements for this new life for the building.


La harinera del Grao by VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje. Photograph by David Frutos.


La harinera del Grao by VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje. Photograph by David Frutos.

After emergency intervention by the City Council due to imminent ruin, a "Structural Consolidation" project was developed which stabilized it allowing recovery within an ongoing concept that could be described as "in process". This continues with the life process that characterizes the building, adapting structurally over time but maintaining its volume character and presence in the City’s architecture.

The project allowed adaptation to its structure including construction of new floors while stabilizing surviving facades from ruin. Its structural proposal solves stability issues, fire resistance and spacialty, characteristic of industrial structures, returning value expected from a protected 20th century industrial architecture. The new structure solves architectural stability issues enabling intended uses under necessary resistance conditions without detracting value from spatiality inherent to architecture itself proposing contemporary structures replacing original wood or steel structures now resolved with prefabricated concrete, attending to technological changes at that time and architectural permanence qualities of this industrial heritage.

More information

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Architects
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VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje. Lead architects.- Miguel del Rey, Antonio Gallud y Juan Ignacio Fuster.
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Project team
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Sergio Varea and Alfonso Baños.
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Collaborators
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Technical Architect (consolidation phase).- Raúl Carracedo and Rafael Pastor.
Technical Architect (fitting out phase).- Francisco Vallet.
Landscaping.- Teresa Santamaría. Landscape Architect and Agricultural Engineer.
Facilities.- VALNU, SL.
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Builder
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Consolidation Phase.- UTE Bertolín-Dragados.
Enabling Phase.- ROVER Infrastructures.
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Developer
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Valencia City Council.
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Area
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4.196,36 sqm.
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Dates
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Consolidation phase.- 2012 - 2017.
Qualification phase.- 2017 - 2022.
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Location
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Calle Joan Verdeguer- Grao. Valencia, Spain.
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Photography
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VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje is a studio based in Valencia and Barcelona founded by Miguel del Rey, Antonio Gallud, Juan Ignacio Fuster and María Teresa Santamaría. The studio focuses on the adequacy and linkage to the territory, culture, and technique, where thinking by drawing and drawing by building will be the basis for their work where the adequacy between the demands and needs, the economic possibilities, and the context, allow the birth of an idea that leads the project from its origin to the delivery of the finished work. His work ranges from corporate and institutional projects to domestic interventions of housing or local rehabilitation, either in the field of architecture and urban planning, as well as landscaping and gardening.

Miguel del Rey Aynat is an architect, Professor of Architectural Projects at the ETSAV, active until 2008. Founder and Director until 2008 of the research group "PAISAR-Paisajismo y Arquitectura Rural". A regular collaborator of some masters on restoration and landscape. He has several publications and has received several awards such as the Spanish Architecture Award Prince of Asturias and has been a finalist in several Biennials of Spanish Architecture and Landscape.

Antonio Gallud Martínez is a professor at the University School of Architectural Projects at the School of Architecture of Valencia. He belongs to the research group "PAISAR - Paisajismo y Arquitectura Rural", registered in the Institute of Heritage Restoration of the UPV. He combines his teaching and research work with the practice of his profession in the Valencian Community, where he has received the Award for the best work of Gardening and Landscaping from the College of Architects of the Valencian Community.

Juan Ignacio Fuster Marco is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architectural Projects at the School of Architecture of Valencia. He is a member of the research group "PAISAR - Paisajismo y Arquitectura Rural", registered in the Restoration Institute of the UPV and combines his teaching and research work with his professional practice.

María Teresa Santamaría Villagrasa is an agricultural engineer, specialist in garden design, and researcher on botanical and gardening topics. She has dedicated many years to teaching subjects such as gardening and botany at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Author of several books, focusing in particular on the study and enhancement of historic Valencian gardens. Her projects have received awards at the Biennial of Valencian Architecture and have been published in specialized Spanish magazines.
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Published on: July 20, 2023
Cite: "Recovering memory and technology. La harinera del Grao by VAM10 arquitectura y paisaje" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/recovering-memory-and-technology-la-harinera-del-grao-vam10-arquitectura-y-paisaje> ISSN 1139-6415
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