The intervention on the access staircase from the ante-sacristy is solved by means of oak wood supports in the sections that seriously affected the Romanesque apse, freeing up the space with a visually very light solution, and opting for the enhancement of different outstanding elements of those who separate.
The project generates an open-plan room around a single pillar, forming a cross plan, which, thanks to the use of a unique wooden structure, generates a warm atmosphere in dialogue with the pre-existing sandstone walls. The roof maintains the traditional materiality of Arabic tiles, but adopts a contemporary construction solution of double battening and hidden gutter, which improves performance and reduces maintenance.
Rooftop and staircase of the sacristy of the Cathedral of Ciudad Rodrigo by Sánchez Gil Arquitectos. Photograph by Estudio Sánchez Gil Arquitectos.
Project description by Sánchez Gil Arquitectos
The intervention area, which covers a very small surface area of barely 16x16 metres, presents a great historical and structural complexity, reflecting the different construction phases of the Cathedral: the Romanesque apses, the 15th-century Gothic chapel, the new choir designed by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón and the 16th-century sacristy with its late Baroque vaults.
The roof that previously covered these spaces was a solution of necessity, due to the damage and deterioration caused by the sieges of the city during the Peninsular War, as well as periods of great economic hardship, with numerous shores directly propped on the medieval vaults, with a high density of supports and a roofing solution that was not only inefficient, but also in a poor state of conservation.
Rooftop and staircase of the sacristy of the Cathedral of Ciudad Rodrigo by Sánchez Gil Arquitectos. Photograph by Estudio Sánchez Gil Arquitectos.
The intervention carried out, in addition to ensuring stability and watertightness, consisted of enhancing the value of the complex in such a way as to allow small groups of tourists to visit it and rediscover the historical richness of the building and the beauty of the various restored spaces, with a modern character and at the same time respectful of the Cathedral. To this end, a new constructive solution has been adopted that preserves the original external geometry of the building's original shell, but in which the space underneath has been freed up, allowing the original stone roofs of the Romanesque cathedral to be better appreciated. To this end, all the additions have been removed, creating a transparent open space around a single cross-shaped column that combines symbolism and mechanical function thanks to the use of a remarkable wooden structure. The entry of light, through carefully designed skylights that are not visible from the outside, mainly from the area of the nearby city wall, reinforces the importance of the different stages and reminds the visitor of the original nature of the complex, conceived as an outdoor space.
The roof retains the traditional material, the curved roof tile, but with a modern construction solution that improves performance and significantly reduces maintenance, thanks to double battens, nailed heel channel tiles and caps tiles fixed with hooks. All the singular points of the historic walls and the skylights are solved with leaded slats, while at the eaves, to avoid the appearance of gutters, it was decided to use an overhanging piece of slate, on which a copper sheet is placed to ensure watertightness and to act as a drip, so that from the street it is perceived as a line of shadow.
Rooftop and staircase of the sacristy of the Cathedral of Ciudad Rodrigo by Sánchez Gil Arquitectos. Photograph by Estudio Sánchez Gil Arquitectos.
The intervention also includes the construction of a new staircase from the former sacristy, since the existing one was in a ruinous state, with a constructive solution for the support of the different sections, which seriously affected the Romanesque apse. Instead, a new one was proposed that would free up the space as much as possible and enhance the value of the Gospel apse, from which it is separated, as well as several other important elements, such as a Romanesque figurative window, two Gothic windows above the sacristy, the original cornice, etc... For this purpose, its size has been slightly reduced and a visually very light solution has been proposed, with a central “Z” shaped central stringer in laminated wood, in which the support of the oak stairs, which fly to the sides and function as a single body, is inserted, delimited by an almost non-existent handrail in calibrated blued steel rounds. On the other hand, on the upper level, there is a new floor slab with paired beams, with a floor of oiled FAS oak, separated from the walls of the main chapel, creating a double height space lit by the zenithal light, where the material, together with the beams, stairs and the new structure, creates a warm atmosphere in dialogue with the pre-existing sandstone walls.
