INTERVENTION IN THE OLD TOWN OF FIGUERES

At the end of May 2020, the two statges of the rehabilitation works on a historic building in Plaça de les Patates in Figueres were completed. In these two stages the facades have been rehabilitated and the entire building has been consolidated.

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  • Project dossier written in:
    • Fortià Arquitectes
  • Writting team director:
    • Josep Maria Fortià
  • Finalised in:
    • 2021
  • Collaborators:
    • Adela Geli, arquitecta; Roger Soler, arquitecte tècnic; Marc Simón, enginyer; Roser Samaniego, càlcul estructural; Xavier Raya, arquitecte; David Masbernat i Xavier Busquets, estudiants d'arquitectura.
  • Promoter:
    • Cornell-Pato SL

The old town of the city of Figueres brings together a group of buildings from the 16th century. XIX and XX with an important architectural presence. In one of these buildings is the latest intervention by Fortià Arquitectos.

The intervention consists of the rehabilitation of a corner building, on the property where there was an emblematic establishment of the city, the Old Town Café.

The clients have proposed using the ground floor as a bar-restaurant and housing for tourist use on the rest of the floors. The proposal that we are working on from the office proposes the rehabilitation of the historical structure of the building, based on wooden beams and ceramic vault. In the first phase, the two facades, with a large urban presence, on Muralla Street and Plaza de las Potatoes, will be completely rehabilitated. The original cladding on the ground floor, a traditional ashlar masonry, will be recovered and the facades will be rehabilitated with lime mortars, locksmiths and other elements of the architecture of the time.

The rehabilitation of the building includes the consolidation of the original structure of wooden beams and stone walls, a new volumetric roof and the adaptation of the ground floor as a commercial space. At the level of uses, a set of 14 new tourist apartments is created with an average surface area of 55m2 with full accessibility and habitability conditions.

The intervention works on the two façades: Plaza de las Patatas and Calle Muralla have been completed on November 15, 2018. The restoration work on the façade elements, with the locksmiths, the work elements and the traditional plastering of lime mortar have obtained a very favorable general evaluation.

In June 2020, the works on Phase 1 were completed. Structural consolidation and roof of the building. This work closes the construction and structural renovation of the building, awaiting Phase 2, which must address the adaptation of all interior spaces in order to enable them for residential use. The final destination of the building, according to the drafted basic project, is to accommodate 14 apartments for tourist use spread over 4 different floors as well as 2 commercial premises on the ground floor.

The works of Phase 1 have been concluded with an emblematic performance: the recovery of the historic portal that faces the square and which is an iconic image and a reference in the urban landscape of the city. The door has been the subject of a careful restoration by the Genoher de Vilanna artisan carpentry workshop, which has recovered the texture, color and original fittings of this emblematic element.