Rehabilitation of a guest-house
Architects
Sol89. María González y Juanjo López de la Cruz
Collaborators
Elena González, Rosa Gallardo y Álvaro Valverde, architects at Sol89; Duarte y asociados, structure consulting; Miguel Sibón, Installations consulting
Technical Architect
Cristóbal Galocha
Client
Privado
Construction Company
Freyssinet S.L. (1ª Fase)
Photography
Fernando Alda y Sol89
The intervention in this Cordoban house, whose origins date back to the late 15th century, represents, above all other historical or archaeological considerations, an exercise in understanding the constructive and spatial facts that have persisted to our days. The building we observe has evolved through various moments over the centuries; nonetheless, the entire ensemble possesses a coherent and balanced unity, articulated around three courtyards: the reception courtyard, presided over by a valuable double-order Serlian portico; the main courtyard, configured through a delicate archway; and a third service courtyard, whose almost vanished layout is reinterpreted through the project.
The clear resulting structure, composed of transverse bays alternated by the courtyards and connected via a beautiful two-story longitudinal gallery open to the light of Córdoba and the filtered air through lemon and orange trees, encourages an intervention without any speculative intent. Each bay constitutes a habitable unit for an indeterminate period—be it a day or a lifetime. There is no construction beyond the ancient walls and a series of equipped furniture pieces that modulate the different degrees of privacy required by the building. Old partitions that had distorted the ensemble are removed, and the new ones are limited to configuring the wet cores. The functional reasoning aligns with the structural reasoning. Elements degraded by time are replaced with analogous systems: elements subject to bending are replaced by laminated wood floors that rhythmically define the space with their exposed beams; compression elements made of stone and brick are reconstructed similarly; and the significant chapter of porticos, shutters, contraventanas (external shutters), furniture, and some coffered ceilings is integrated with new furniture elements that provide the necessary contemporary technological update.
Time, as a decisive element in this type of gradually developed construction, is incorporated into the project, aiming for an intervention that does not seek to recover a supposed germinal moment—something unlikely in architectures of multiple origins—but rather attends to successive narratives. Some are supported by historiography and archaeology; others emerge from the everyday life of a prolonged and diverse existence, including those intrahistories portrayed through the traces and marks that the passage of time leaves behind.
