Barn in Almenar

In the Spanish region of Castilla la Vieja, Valentín Sanz renewed an old building that used to be a grain storage, and transformed it into a new cultural and multifunctional space.

Valentín Sanz, LiquenLAV, Centro multifunzionale ad Almenar, 2015

Spanish architecture office LiquenLAV transformed into a multifunctional center an old building belonging to the Spanish National Grain Storage Network (SENPA). The project is focused on the type G storage building, a humble construction that presented innovative elements such as the prefabricated roof truss system.

Valentín Sanz, LiquenLAV, Multifunctional Center in Almenar, 2015

Almenar’s warehouse is one of the few industrial heritage constructions preserved in the region. It started to work in 1960, and finally it was donated to the local government at the end of 90’s. The warehouse is composed of three connected storage units with separated access and a total area of one thousand and two hundred square meters.

The proposed intervention is focused on the restoration of one of the units interior space and the remodeling of it´s separate access. The aim was to promote and reinforce the sociocultural activities previously developed in the same place. The actions were made without obstructing future interventions.

The project is solved by lighting, a tunnel and a wall, working with materials and forms without trying to camouflage into the old building. The links between the new elements and the old warehouse turn on the space and solve the initial requirements, encouraging the promotion of new situations and activities which enrich the project. It´s a re-discovery and re-appropriation of a space that was always there, but hidden.

Grain storage in Almenar de Soria, Spain

Grain storage in Almenar de Soria, Spain

Grain storage in Almenar de Soria, Spain

Grain storage in Almenar de Soria, Spain