The purpose of the project is to refurbish the historic building “Aprendices” for the the activities required by ‘Arrasate Musikal’ music school and ‘Goikobalu’ choral association. The  building was originally inaugurated in 1939, and today it has a marked architectural identity and a strong representative component of the recent history of Mondragon. Based on both premises, the proposal aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. To adapt the building to the new requirements, maintaining the essential features of the original architectural project, which give it a unique identity and expressiveness.

2. To maintain this identity in the urban landscape.

3. To generate new urban spaces and dynamics, and to transform the relationship between the building and the river.

One of the main decisions taken in the proposal is to increase its height by one storey, in order to meet the total surface area required in the programme, and to preserve the rotundity of the parallelepiped and its perception from the different viewpoints. This third floor is set back from the main façade line and is designed with glass as the main material, seeking a counterpoint to the original wall façade and taking advantage of its dynamic behaviour in relation to the light.

In this way, the top floor is related to the more distant landscape and Udalatx mountain, the central body to the urban environment, and the ground floor to the closest surroundings. The new main access to the building is from its southern façade, with the aim of generating a new flow that will redefine and recover this part of the urban space, currently unused. The auditorium, a prominent element in the programme, is the only piece that breaks into the exterior. It alters the composition and materiality of the original façade and contributes to the expressiveness of the new use of the building, as well as to the configuration of the outdoor plaza.

Team:
Architect: Krean
Photography: Fernando Alda Fotografía