HOUSES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

REHABILITATION OF TWO VPA HOUSING BUILDINGS IN VIGO, CASCO VELLO.
MARTIN DE COMINGES S.L.P. ARQUITECTOS
V AWARDS OF ARCHITECTURE ASCENSORES ENOR

Rúa Abeleira Menéndez, Vigo (2007-10)

Giving value to the pre-existences, it interests the order of the facade voids, that repeat the one of the rest of the street forming a group full of life. We build a staircase and a patio that form the common space of the houses and relate the two streets, bringing light at the back of the houses.

With simple interior spaces, the use of materials creates a language in which it is easy to distinguish the new from the old, the private spaces of the common, the structure of the coatings… without breaking the harmony and the feeling of the whole.

Two buildings between dividing walls facing two streets which there is a strong difference of level: Abeleira Menéndez Street and San Sebastián Street, halfway between the rest of the walls of San Sebastian Castle and Puerta del Sol.

The preexisting is put in value and we are left with the walls of facade and dividing walls … the interior of the building has no interest, nor value and, besides, it is in ruin … why keep it?

From the outside we are interested in the order of the facade hollows, which repeat the rest of the street forming an interesting set.

We just renovated the carpentry and cleaned the facade.

The order of the facade’s hollows conditions the new section of the building, forcing different floor heights to be established that demonstrate the history of the building without the need to resort to the explicit preservation of preexisting physical elements…

In this way, what remains of the original building is the order that conditions the new building, without the need to maintain obsolete structures, unfortunate or inadequate distributions to new needs, etc…

The new, which was not there, a staircase and a patio, which form the common space of the dwellings, relate the two streets and allow the arrival of light to the bottom of the houses and themselves, giving joy to the arrival to the dwellings…

Fdo. Martin de Cominges Carvallo