TRAZIA renovates a ruinous spanish convent with its museo casa ayora

TRAZIA presents the transformation of a heritage building in almussafes, spain, with its museo casa ayora. early on, the building served as a dominican convent, then a private residence. to celebrate its long and layered history, the design team restores and revitalizes the building to allocate a museum. a new volume is added to the main building, attached to back façade, which serves as a communications and services core. the goal of the project is to allow the architecture to express its heritage. with this in mind, the building becomes a museum of itself.

images by milena villalba

after restoring the derelict structure, TRAZIA works with a team of archeologists to renovate the interiors of the museo casa ayora. the ceilings, floors, and walls of each room were independently studied to modify as little as possible so that the focus of the intervention celebrates a true rehabilitation and enhancement of the existing. the original hand painted art deco wallpaper is perfectly restored with great respect for its heritage. to enhance the language of the original elements of the architecture, the new details are expressed with such markedly contemporary materials as glass and steel. the team notes: ‘in this way, the visitor will be able to identify the elements that belongs to the history of the building and the ones added in a recent stage.’

TRAZIA’s museo casa ayora intervention is defined by a new volume which occupies the site of the ruinous kitchen of the preexisting house. seeking to create a dialogue between the new added volume and the existing building, the newly completed facade is finished with solid ceramic brickwork. the brick is a traditional material that coexists perfectly with the existing barn at the rear of the patio. by combining different brickwork, a play of light and shadow is created so the building looks entirely different between the day and the night.