Cooking School in a Former Slaughterhouse

After demolishing the less significant elements, the original core around the courtyard is consolidated. In the empty space, teaching kitchens and classrooms are arranged, articulated by thick bands that densify the transition between them. A coating that extends the kitchen floor onto the vertical walls creates ceramic basins as an ideal workspace. Its height is interrupted by the roof support, which is perforated by a series of courtyards that act as ventilation chimneys and large pots for culinary species.

The slaughterhouse’s austerity still resides in its walls and in the columns that some historians originally place in the Phoenician temple of Hercules-Melcart. Their dispersion forms a network in Medina Sidonia’s layout. We’d like to preserve some of that character. The old beams are replaced by curved concrete slabs reminiscent of the originals, walls are clad with polished lime mortar, and the floor is made of rough gray granite. Everything has a somewhat rough appearance, trying not to overshadow the memory of a place dedicated to a primitive industry.

The proposal taps into the vernacular tradition of popular constructions in many southern towns and cities: whitewashed walls with high thermal inertia, courtyards used as chimneys to induce ventilation, and breathable ceramic roofs. A series of small courtyards dot the design of the Hospitality School, ensuring cross-ventilation. Meanwhile, the thick walls into which the intervention is inserted reduce thermal losses, and humidity is managed through the use of clay as a wrapping material.