Collapsing stone walls of the old farmhouse served as the starting point for Casa 1627, house in Spain, made by a local studio H Architectes.

In the agricultural landscape of Pals, in the Baix Empordà region of Girona, only two outer buildings remain of the Mas Geli farmhouse. cyclopean masonry The walls are supported by large buttresses.

H Architectes restored the building using new elements of light stone and concrete, designed to recreate the scale and materiality of the old walls and to preserve the historic layout and materiality of the building.

Exterior of Casa 1627 by H Arquitectes — H Arquitectes Creates Casa 1627 in Spain

“[Casa 1627] “reinterprets the values of vernacular architecture without abandoning the modernity of the proposal,” explained H Arquitectes.

“The project aims to be contextual, seeking to integrate the new farmhouse into the exceptional landscape of the Baix Empordà, which is a continuum of agricultural land with the distant but constant presence of ancestral farmhouses, perfectly integrated into the landscape,” it added.

Where the original stonework of Casa 1627 could be retained and restored on the north and east walls, these areas were contrastingly complemented by enlarged openings framed in concrete.

Farmhouse in Spain — It occupies the ruins of an old farmhouse.

“The two stone façades that remained almost intact, to the north and east, were consolidated and restored to respect their values, and new openings were added,” said H Arquitectes.

In the south and west, where there are almost no buildings left to restore, H Arquitectes built reinforced concrete walls that mimic the texture and color of the existing farmhouse, using stones found in the ruins.

Inside Casa 1627, the focal point is the double-height kitchen and dining room in the southwest corner, which opens onto a porch protected by a large concrete canopy.

Around this dining room, the living areas and study are arranged in an L shape on the ground floor, with the bedrooms on the second floor, both with views of the Medes Islands.

“The porch clearly demonstrates the rootedness of farm life in the nearby land where you can step and the distant territory where you can look,” the studio explained.

“To the west, it connects the house to the vineyards, with Pals in the background. To the south, it controls the sun and extends the kitchen and its activities towards the sunny garden and pool,” it added.

old stone walls framed with concrete — The original structure remains exposed in some places.

This spatial arrangement reflects the layout of the original farmhouse, framed by a combination of existing stone walls and structural vaults, as well as new walls of light-coloured cast concrete.

All of them are left open on the inside to create a contrast between old and new.