The Mediterranean room vs A pergola open to the orchard by Bona Fide Taller

"A pergola open to the orchard" is an urban and landscape proposal, which has recently been awarded an Honorable Mention at the Ascer awards, it was designed by the Bona Fide Taller architecture studio. The complex is located in the municipality of Sot de Ferrer, in the comarca of Alto Palancia, Castellón, Spain.

The proposal was designed by Bona Fide Taller entirely by hand, the result of a contest of ideas organized by the Castellón Provincial Council for the urban regeneration of the province from the use of ceramic products.

A pergola open to the orchard by Bona Fide Taller. Photograph by Oleh Kardash Horlay.

Bona Fide Taller project, a studio directed by Alejandro Martínez del Río, aims to recover the view of the landscape of medlar, persimmon and citrus crops that is located on the western urban edge of Sot de Ferrer, bordering the main ditch that serves to a network of old washing places.

This extraordinary landscape between the old water infrastructure and the bed of the Palancia river, from which it feeds upstream, collides with the deteriorated façade of the municipality where the layout of the streets cuts off abruptly.

"The Project reclaims the existing; gives proper access to the washing area and provides space for contemplation. A narrow trail, ‘right of way’ used by farmers to get to their nearby fields, is improved. The orchards are brought close."

Bona Fide Taller

"From 'A pergola open to the garden' the jury highlights the ability to regenerate an edge space in the urban environment, of a small town in the interior of Castellón. The project solves the problem through a single ceramic piece that makes up the flooring of the space, and the cover of the protection pergola integrating the existing laundry room and retaining wall."

ASCER Jury statement.

A pergola open to the orchard by Bona Fide Taller. Photograph by Oleh Kardash Horlay.

Project description by Bona Fide Taller

There is a balcony of rod mesh and jasmine at the end of St.Peter street, above the medlar plantation. On one side lies the walls of the Gothic Palace garden, a settling point from where the village of Sot de Ferrer grew, in the province of Castellon, Spain.

On the other side, a path gently slopes downward to the remains of the old washhouse. New stairs provide access and sitting –surprisingly, it is still in use by a few neighbours of age-.

The concrete wall allows for a small plaza open to the fields and the trees that follow the stream of the river. One can sit on its edge and refresh their feet in the main irrigation ditch, as it always carries water.

The pergola gathers all the space under its curved vault, soon to be covered by Virginia creeper vine, red in Autumn.