Centro Cultural Forges

Centro Cultural Forges 

FIRM architects

Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz

ARCHITECTS
Firm Architects

MANUFACTURERS
Siero Lam, Baxi, Danosa, Madefon

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Daniel Gómez Magide, Adrián López Rancaño

STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Timbersoul By Cándido Hermida S.l.

INSTALLATIONS
Estudios Inimatec S.l.

PHOTOGRAPHS
Luis Díaz Díaz

AREA
350 M²

YEAR
2024

LOCATION
Spain

CATEGORY
Cultural Center

Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz

Text description provided by architect.

The Old Town Hall of A Fonsagrada (1845), unused since 2015, is transformed with this project into a space where the City Council can showcase the collection donated by the cartoonist Antonio Fraguas “Forges” after his passing in 2018.

The proposal for the Forges Cultural Center delves into some of the basic concepts of intervention in built heritage.

The reading and analysis of the different stages, uses, and interventions that occurred in the building allow us to identify which ones added value and which ones went against the original logic of the construction.

Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz

In this sense, the first task was to clean and select, as well as to consolidate the deteriorated structural elements.

On the other hand, one of the major challenges of introducing a museum use in a building of this type was adapting the pre-existing structure to current regulations, especially regarding accessibility, fire protection, temperature and humidity control, and energy efficiency.

Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz

Thus, the original courtyard of the building, which had been covered with a methacrylate vault in the 1990s, was recovered, delineated by a new façade made of laminated chestnut wood structural elements, which also functions as a solar control and capture device.

Inside, the spaces created by the existing masonry walls are utilized to develop the program of needs in the simplest way possible, adding only a circulation core and a service core.

Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz

The ground floor is understood as a space for interaction with the street, located in the Historic Center of the town and next to the Camino Primitivo de Santiago.

In this way, it houses the future tourist office, the lobby of the Cultural Center, and a multipurpose room that can extend to the recovered courtyard. Meanwhile, the first floor is distributed into three.

Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz

Regarding the use of materials and resources in the intervention, the premise was to use local materials and labor, making it viable both economically and environmentally.

The rehabilitation of existing heritage is understood as one of the most basic concepts of sustainability.

Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz

The abandonment of infrastructure and urban fabric is unproductive and unnecessary, generating more expense.

In this same line, and considering the presence of a small industry in the locality dedicated to chestnut sawing, the use of this species of wood was chosen in all available formats.

Sawn and laminated structural wood, as well as finishes for both flooring and vertical surfaces.

Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz

On one hand, the commitment to this type of industry allows for maintaining a forestry option away from pine and eucalyptus monocultures, while also being a way to locally regulate the relationships between economy and ecology, contributing to the decarbonization of the construction sector.


Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz
Centro Cultural Forges
© Luis Díaz Díaz


Centro Cultural Forges
Plan - Ground floor
Centro Cultural Forges
Plan - First floor
Centro Cultural Forges
Plan - Site


Centro Cultural Forges
Elevation
Centro Cultural Forges
Section


Centro Cultural Forges
Detail
Centro Cultural Forges
Detail