Special Mention MIES 2011 to Ramon Bosch and Bet Capdeferro

Located in the historical centre of the city of Girona, this project is composed of a series of dilapidated buildings that had been built over time. From the beginning, the architects realized that the big and old stone shells, which had been designed to establish an optimum relationship in terms of both the place and climate, offered unsurpassable conditions in which to live. Spatially, the relevance of the patios was especially important as centres of gravity for the interior. Slightly irregular geometries were adopted because they were capable of being discreetly enhanced within the original skeleton and the use of a vertical compositional pattern in all the new interventions gave a sense of unity as well as helping to emphasize the height clearance of the different floors of the building.

In terms of energy it was only necessary to potentiate the great quality and efficiency of the existing passive systems and with sufficient solar protection in summer and the addition of radiant flooring in winter, the house attains a high grade of thermal comfort. With respect to the materials the house itself provided an extremely valuable heritage in that grilles, mosaics and stones were available for reuse and continuity of the constructional language of the old neighbourhood was reflected by the simple mortar facings and stuccowork.