Casa Rec

The project focuses on the renovation of two buildings that housed a small textile industry and a house at the end of the 19th century, in the Rec neighborhood of Igualada, near Barcelona. The neighborhood is currently in the process of transformation from its industrial tradition centered on leather tanning to becoming a creative neighborhood that also hosts artists, cultural events and gastronomy. The project has been an exercise based on emptying the buildings of slabs, patios, walls and pillars to make room for the house and office inside.

Therefore, the project is based on demolition, reinforcement, recycling and recovery of buildings made with simple, popular materials. A double-height space has been created on the ground floor of the house, with a mezzanine of books and a large open fireplace. On the first floor, intended for children’s rooms, a large intermediate space has been created built around the remains of the old ventilation patio. And on the upper floor, a spacious room has been created with a floor created by recycling the beams from the demolished floors. The exercise has been repeated in the small company building, creating a workspace on both the ground floor and the upper floor, with great material austerity. The façade, which exposes the different materials and phases of its construction, incorporates a mural by the artist Btoy, which reinforces the cultural character of the neighborhood.