The winning design from the studios led by Carme Pinós and Carles Enrich Studio propose a comprehensive reprogramming of the uses planned for the buildings on the estate, assigning each one a use consistent with its structure and location within the complex, improving circulation to minimise interference between users, paying special attention to improving the natural context and gardens.
The intervention, in the Pazo de Lourizán, seeks not only its functional renovation but also to revalue its heritage importance. By clarifying accesses and reorganizing routes, restructuring the program to optimize the resources of the complex and the environmental and ecosystemic recovery of the estate, the project allows almost all of these historic spaces to be visitable and accessible to the public.
Differentiated accesses and parking are proposed for the different circulation flows, differentiating guests, workers and occasional public, thus generating a large central pedestrian space that improves the user experience by offering an accessible environment in contact with nature.
Currently, the existing impermeable surfaces on access roads and parking lots cause a heat island effect and an increase in surface runoff that increases soil erosion, so the project seeks to depave these impermeable surfaces and incorporate new plantations to enhance water infiltration, thus trying to increase the resilience of the ecosystem against the effects of climate change and provide suitable habitats for local fauna.
The functional redistribution integrates the new uses with the history of the place and the heritage value of the existing spaces, creating a dialogue between the old and the new that enriches the visitor experience. In the Pazo we find the visitor reception center, exhibitions, hotel and restaurant, while the office buildings and research residence are relocated to other buildings, avoiding interference with cultural activities.
To minimize interventions and the impact of the project on the environment, the proposal preserves the structure of the Lagar and lightens the use of the Greenhouse, trying to recover its original condition as a tropical garden. This functional strategy reduces the costs of building a new multipurpose pavilion.
The ground floor, a key part of the project, is reconfigured to accommodate the access to the visitor reception centre, highlighting the original structure of the Pazo and converting a space that was not previously accessible to the public into a new space accessible to the general public. The public space extends into the interior through a double-height lobby.
Meanwhile, with a separate lobby that allows for independent operation, we find the access to the hotel, from where visitors can enjoy the common areas that will offer privileged views of the estate's historic gardens. The exhibition areas and common spaces of the hotel and restaurant are located on the first floor, allowing visitors to tour the most emblematic rooms of the Pazo.
Glass Greenhouse
The Glass Greenhouse is an emblematic structure that for decades housed a rich variety of ornamental and exotic plants. The proposal seeks to conserve the structure and restore it using techniques and materials that respect its historical design, limiting it to its original use as a garden. Thus, the greenhouse is recovered as an exhibition space, with minimal intervention that respects its heritage value.
Era de majar, hórreo and sequero
The proposal seeks to return to the Era de majar, which is currently in a state of abandonment, its historical and cultural relevance, connecting with the agricultural past of the estate. The complex will be renovated as an accessible public space, transforming the old sequero into a canteen and reconfiguring the rear workshops for support services.
Old school and Lagar
The old school will house the workshops and coworking uses on the ground floor, and the researcher's residence on the first floor, recovering its former use as temporary housing. The ground floor will be understood as a passable space that connects the gardens with the parking area. The Lagar building, due to its excellent condition of conservation, is maintained in its entirety, taking advantage of its current use as offices to introduce new forestry sector companies to the estate.
Multipurpose Pavilion
The new pavilion, located in the extension of the Camino del Cura, will be a multipurpose building designed to complement the functions of the Pazo, being a key piece in its revitalization. The pavilion will not only offer additional services to visitors, but will also act as a dynamic point that can function independently of the rest of the program.
Outdoor spaces
The interventions in the outdoor spaces stand out for their environmental and heritage value, promoting a naturalized pedestrian connection between the programs. The new gardens and the permeabilization of the soil will improve the local microclimate, reducing the temperature and increasing humidity, while the native species will promote biodiversity and a healthy environment for visitors. Finally, the recovery of the historic Camino del Cura is proposed, placing a new pergola as a trellis that extends the garden towards the new multipurpose pavilion.
