Girona house’s minimalist drama unfolds behind traditional façade

This Girona house is an elegant merging of two period homes in the city’s centre. Set in a richly historical part of town, Casa Pujada del Rey Martí is the work of a collaboration between Spanish studios Fuses-Viader Architects and Montserrat Nogués Architect, and it blends its heritage location with a distinctly contemporary interior and minimalist architecture, fit for the 21st century. 

‘The site, right outside the Roman city and in front of the former Via Augusta, was an ancient necropolis, from which human remains from the 2nd to 3rd century AD, remains of opus signinum [paving], and a funerary oven, that have been preserved, were found. During later construction, from the Carolingian period, medieval houses were built, [and] later highly modified,’ explains Nogués. In this powerful context, the team tackled the redesign of two adjacent plots – one of which contained a house in need of renovation, and the other the remains of a second, which was almost entirely destroyed. 

The new home is designed around a new, central, internal courtyard that offers light, air and open space within the city-centre lot. Behind the restored, original façade, lies a world of minimalist internal volumes, tall ceilings and smooth timber floors. Original and new stone walls and arches meet exposed concrete and soft Dinesen Douglas flooring in a composition that feels entirely modern. At the same time, in a nod to the structures’ historical origins, traditional techniques such as manual stucco and coloured plastering with washed aggregate were also used in the construction.

Architectural simplicity and a pared-down approach to interior decor allow the bones of the building – both old and new – to shine through and craft the urban, contemporary identity of this Girona house. Casa Pujada del Rey Martí bridges styles and time periods effortlessly while cleverly adapting to the dense urban fabric around it.

INFORMATION
fusesviader.com
ammarquitectes.com