The preexistence of the Nolla mosaic, although somewhat deteriorated, was established as a key condition for the Annona Arquitectura project. The objective was to integrate this craftsmanship as an essential part of both the home and the collection of works simultaneously, without it appearing as an imposition on the other elements. This approach enables a fluid dialogue between the home's memory and artistic exploration.
Through industrial production that employs traditional techniques, new mosaic pieces were created and applied in the service rooms. The home and exhibition interact, allowing the preexisting materials—whose use has been updated—to generate a sense of continuity across the different temporal phases this home has undergone.
Gallery Home by Annona Arquitectura. Photography by Javier Callejas.
Description of project by Annona Arquitectura
The transformation of a 300 square meters apartment, located in an iconic 1920s building in Granada, Spain, combines heritage preservation with contemporary solutions.
The original commission came from a couple with permanent residences in both London and Singapore, who sought to turn this historic space into a short-term residence that catered to their modern lifestyle needs, while also respecting and preserving the property’s original features.
Additionally, they requested that the apartment function as a temporary gallery — with a permanent one currently under construction — to showcase a valuable contemporary art collection. This required designing areas for service spaces and wet rooms in a way that preserved the large, open areas ideal for displaying artwork. At the same time, these private spaces needed to be functional for future residential use, while respecting valuable historical features and maintaining the clarity of the building’s original layout.
To preserve the integrity of the original layout, the new additions were designed to not reach the ceiling, allowing the historic structure to remain visible and reinforcing the concept of the apartment as a vessel not just for art, but for history as well.
Materiality played a key role in the design. The building boasts rare decorative elements, including mosaic tiles, so it was essential that any new interventions complemented, rather than clashed with this craftsmanship. With significant portions of the mosaic lost over time, an innovative approach was taken to reproduce the tiles using traditional techniques adapted to modern industrial methods. This new production capability enabled the repair of damaged sections and the addition of large monochromatic surfaces that not only revived the floors but also infused the new service areas with materiality, all while preserving the building's historic character.
This historical material is repurposed in a contemporary manner to form new volumes. The result is a sequence of spaces that contrast two different ways of living and two distinct approaches to utilizing the same material. The proposal fosters a dialogue between the past and the present, highlighting not only a century of history but also a distinct vision of living and displaying art.
