Barcelona-based studio vora was commissioned with the refurbishment of a housing building containing 5 dwellings. A quite anonymous and discreet building, the value of which, sets its roots on the continuity sense of an era.

The refurbishment is based on a strategy of reuse and transformation, acting with the building’s essence in a both continuist and disruptive way, with a playful, yet respectful attitude.

The main idea of this housing building renovation carried out by vora is the hybridization between the new and the old.

An example of this is the use of materials, as the new additions hybridize with the pre-existing in its detailing and ornament. ​Many materials and elements of the building were reused, "maintaining the atmospheric continuity".

In the words of the architects, the complexity of the interiors "generates visual comfort, deliberately away from the smooth and anonymous surfaces, so the future tenants will feel at home from the very first day".

Description of project by vora

Vallirana 47 is a quite anonymous and discreet building. Its value doesn´t lie within any singular identity, but in the sense of continuity of an epoch. The work consists of the refurbishment of 5 of the 6 dwellings in the building, and the common spaces. 

Aroused by the way of thinking of the client “Pontejos (conservation and preservation)”, we brought the project to a high level of hybridization between the new and the old, to which we had never achieved before. We worked with the identity of the building in a way that is both continuous and disruptive, with a respectful and at the same time playful attitude.

The new spatial arrangement is superimposed to the existing one in an expressive way, through friction and displacement. Pavements and ceilings incorporate the order and hierarchy of the original spaces, while the partitions express, at the same time, part of this memory, as well as the transformations made.

The new material additions hybridize with the pre-existing in its detailing and ornament. Many materials and elements of the building were reused, which maintain the atmospheric continuity. Everything that was added, links with this continuity, from the most tactile aspects to the most abstract ones: glazed tiles, application of graphic patterns extracted from the building's grids, wall papers, etc ... In this sensory approach, it was also incorporated the stratification of qualities that characterized the residential buildings of that time, specifically in the detail of some coatings and elements.

Finally, we built a density of layers of perception and information in the interiors, which provides complexity and vibration. Meaningful vibration for those who want to interpret it, which at the same time generates visual comfort, deliberately away from the smooth and anonymous surfaces, so the future tenants will feel at home from the very first day.

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Architects
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vora - Pere Buil + Toni Riba
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Collaborators
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Alex Etxeberria, Quim Olea, Lorenz Kraut, Pol Bosch, Veronika Halo. Structural project.- Eskubi-Turró Arquitectes. Building services project.- Quadrifoli. Quotation.- Gerard Codina. Construction management.- Gerard Codina.
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Builder
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Metric Integra
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Developer
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Pontejos Conservación y Preservación S.L.
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Area
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490 m²
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Dates
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Project.- 2017. Construction.- 2017-2018.
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Address
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Carrer Vallirana 47. Barcelona, Spain.
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Photography
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vora based in Barcelona, was ​​founded in 2000. It is led by Pere Buil (1973), who graduated from the ETSAB in 2000. He combines his professional activity with teaching, occasionally with curating and cultural action. Pere Buil is a professor of Projects at the ETSAV (UPC, Sant Cugat del Vallès). Toni Riba (1973) was a partner from 2004 to 2023.

The studio works on projects of different scales and typologies. It has also designed some urban furniture. Its approach to the design and construction process is abstract and material. The studio is interested in using, reduction, and materiality in response to current challenges. It also focuses on traces and remains as remnants of memory and their impact on collective identities.

Her work has received several awards, including the El Temps de les Arts 2021 Award, Frame 2020, Surface Design 2020, 2AA 2018, Archmarathon 2014, Ciutat de Barcelona 2013, AJAC 2012, Arquitectura+ 2011, Bonaplata, finalist or shortlisted in several editions of the Mies van der Rohe Awards, FAD, ENOR, Bigmat, Spanish Architecture Biennial (BEAU), Architecture Award, European Landscape Biennial, and Arquía/Próxima, among others. She has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale in the Catalan and Spanish pavilions in the 2014 and 2016 editions. In May 2018, she presented her first monographic exhibition, "Shared Identities," at the Kolektiv gallery in Belgrade. His most recognized works include: Vallirana 47 (a comprehensive renovation of a small residential building), the Can Rosés Temporary School, the Ramon y Mar Pavilion (a small residential extension pavilion), the surroundings of the Born Market, the Juan Apartment, and the Can Ricart Sports Center, all in Barcelona; a medical office in Paüls, the Rambla San Francisco in Vilafranca, and the Bank of Spain Operations Courtyard in Madrid.

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Published on: October 1, 2019
Cite:
metalocus, RAMIRO PÉREZ TOLEDO
"Reuse and transformation. Vallirana 47 building by vora" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/reuse-and-transformation-vallirana-47-building-vora> ISSN 1139-6415
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