The stripped concrete skeletons of three former factories in A Coruña await conversion into public buildings by Spanish architects Díaz&Díaz.
The architects decontaminated both the site and the towering, barrel-vaulted structures for the first phase of development.
The next phrase of construction will see the La Cros buildings transformed into a library, an auditorium and a cafe (see drawings below).
You can see more projects from Spain here, including a bright red psychiatric centre and a pearlescent music hall.
Photography is by Xoan Piñon.
Here’s some text from Díaz&Díaz Arquitectos:
Rehabilitation of the Old Factories Structures Cros. Phase I
Faced with the Burgo estuary, along the new promenade stand proud of the old factory Cros structures. The first phase project includes the decontamination of structures and terrain as well as a complete renovation. To undertake this phase structures were settled with pine wooden formwork and the roof was recovered ceramic tiles.
Cultural Centre Built in Cros Old Factory
Carefully studying the circulation of the Cros Old factory buildings and in knowing, that when considered together, the three existent buildings have a great value for its urban and architectural system, volumetric plastic qualities and spatial configuration, Díaz y Díaz Architects sought an integration of architectural space. In doing so, their design is perceived as a unified whole.
The auditorium, as the Library and the cafeteria, have their own entrances and circulation systems, so they can be operated independently.
From the formal point of view, all new projected spaces are conceived as free bodies, with a clear volumetry, staying within the existing buildings, touching them in essential and specified points. The special treatment, seeking to adequately express the contrast between old and new: on the one hand the ships restored with its original volumetry of barrel-vaulted naves and visible structure; furthermore, the new bodies based parallelepiped volumes smooth surface.
These old factory buildings are a magnificent example of industrial architecture of the time, which are parts of architectural modern heritage to preserve and to convert in a great cultural pole of attraction and urban entertainment not only for the municipal level, but to the entire metropolitan area.
Architects: Díaz y Díaz Architects (Lucas Díaz and Gustavo Díaz)
Location: Galicia, Spain
Project: Rehabilitation of the old factories structures Cros. Phase I. El Burgo. A Coruña
Client: Culleredo Town Hall
Surveyor: Ramón Rodilla Marcos
Area: 9.000 m2
Date of Construction: 2011 (phase I)
