For "Calle Real 60," Sinaldaba champions everyday heritage as a support for collective life, keeping alive not only the building’s material fabric, but also its use, activity and the people who inhabit it.
The wooden structure and original elements of the existing building are preserved, maintaining its architectural and constructive value and incorporating only the actions essential to guarantee its continuity, safety and adaptation to contemporary needs, such as the metal staircase.
"Calle Real 60" by Sinaldaba. Photograph by Luis Díaz Díaz.
Project description by Sinaldaba
"Calle Real 60" stems from a conviction: historic cities remain alive because they continue to be inhabited. The project revitalizes a building in the historic center of A Coruña that, after decades of neglect, had completely lost its residential function, becoming practically a pigeon roost and a void within the urban fabric.
Beyond the physical rehabilitation, the project restores a traditional way of inhabiting the city, in which the economic activity of a single family unit occupies the lower floors, while the living quarters are located on the upper floors. Architecture, work, and domestic life thus become part of the same daily reality, reinforcing the identity of the place, urban activity, and the bonds of proximity that historically gave life to neighborhoods.
The intervention is based on the reuse of the existing building, preserving its structure and the original elements that still retained architectural and structural value, and incorporating only those actions essential to guarantee its continuity, safety, and adaptation to contemporary needs. The improvement in its energy performance, exceeding 90%, demonstrates that the rehabilitation of built heritage can offer fully modern solutions with minimal resource consumption.
More than just rehabilitating a building, Calle Real 60 gives the city back a way of living. The project reclaims everyday heritage as the foundation of collective life and demonstrates that conservation is not only about preserving the physical structure, but also about keeping alive what gives it meaning: its use, its activities, and the people who inhabit it.
