Ruins of 16th Century Spanish House Converted to Modern Academy

One of the last traditional houses in an industrialized section of Paretes de Valles, Spain has undergone a major <a href="http://inhabitat.com/300-year-old-barn-renovated-with-prefab-inserts-daylighting-and-a-ventilating-roof/">restoration</a> and a contemporary update. The 16th century house was in near ruins when <a href="http://www.two-bo.com/index.php?/proyectos/masia-can-guasch-/">two.bo Architects</a> collaborated with Luis Twose to come up with a radical plan to open the space up to a new program while bringing daylight into all corners of the building. The finished pharmaceutical training facility is now a subtle fusion of old and contemporary architecture, providing usable indoor and outdoor space while restoring the sensibility of the original house.

The large stone and plaster house was first built in the 1500s, and it went through several awkward additions before it was finally abandoned.

Now the property, surrounded by an industrial park, is a training facility for a pharmaceutical company.

Since so much of the property was near collapse, the decision was made to do major overhaul of the floor plan with careful addition and subtraction to maintain the <a href="//inhabitat.com/extraordinary-renovation-of-berlins-neues-museum-wins-2011-mies-van-der-rohe-award/">original character</a> of the building.

A garage and barn were removed to create a walled courtyard.

Internal spaces were opened up to provide for better flow and <a href="http://www.fireflyliving.com/real-estate-tips/3-ways-to-make-a-small-home-feel-bigger/">visual sight lines</a>, and light shafts and a large glass wall were installed to eliminate dark spaces.

A large glass enclosure draping the west entrance creates a buffer from the street and modernizes the aesthetic of the property, unifying the original busy and layered facade.

The distinctive <a href="http://inhabitat.com/historic-defense-tower-transformed-into-modern-home/">defense tower</a> (what medieval Spanish home is complete without one?) had its original floors removed to open the interior up, and plaster was removed from the walls to expose the structural stone.

A small steel stairway leads to a glass floor which is the base for a wooden spiral staircase that leads to the tower’s roof.

View of the Tower interior.

The exterior was replastered with sections of the stone work coming through, exposing the core constrution of the original house.