Architect Matilde Peralta del Amo has converted an old market hall in western Spain into a theatre with a huge concrete mouth.

Located in the small town of Navalmoral de la Mata, the L-shaped structure of the old hall accommodates the theatre auditorium within its largest side and a generous reception lobby opposite.

Matilde Peralta del Amo removed an atrium that formerly provided access to storage areas and added a towering concrete entrance with a row of glazed doors.

"This element marks the entrance, links the old and new structures, and makes visible the new activities taking place within," says Peralta del Amo.

New roofing adds additional height to the theatre, plus the architect has constructed concrete walls behind the original facades to protect the interior from ground water and damp.

These concrete interior walls and ceilings are left uncovered, but have been stained to create a flower pattern.

"The rehabilitation preserves the ambience and scenic qualities of the old market, while providing Navalmoral de la Mata and the area with a new theatrical infrastructure," says the architect.

Other small theatres completed in recent years include a bright red auditorium at London's National Theatre and one with a bulky concrete cafe on top.

See more theatres on Dezeen »
See more architecture in Spain »

Here's some more information from Matilde Peralta del Amo:

Transformation of the Municipal Market into a Theatre, Navalmoral de la Mata (Cáceres)
First Prize Design Competition

The old Municipal Market, now the Navalmoral de la Mata Theatre, is a free standing structure located at the edge of the traditional town centre and the area of twentieth century urban growth. The original "L" shaped edifice was formed by 2 sheds and an open atrium providing access to storage areas.

Surrounded by housing blocks too tall for the scale of the narrow streets, the Market, City Hall and Church seem to have escaped from a fairy tale. These newer blocks of recint vintage contrast with the dimunitive scale of the public buildings which are a patent reminder of the agricultural origins of the city.

The rehabilitation preserves the ambience and scenic qualities of the old market, while providing Navalmoral de la Mata and the area with a new theatrical infrastructure. Visually the old market merely changes its roofs; in reality a new building is built within the old-independent in order to avoid humidity and ground water. Made entirely of poured in place concrete, the inner building allows for greater volume and longer structural spans than the old construction; facilitating its new program as a theatre. The old atrium-courtyard is replaced by an access portico, separated from the older construction. This element marks the entrance, links the old and new structures, and makes visible the new activities taking place within. The concrete walls that form the space are bare, bearing the marks of their making. Within the theatre, the walls are covered in flowers; dressed to resolve the technical requirements of the space.

Architect: Matilde Peralta del Amo
Location: Joaquín Alcalde Street
Architect: Matilde Peralta del Amo
Owner: Consejería de Cultura y Turismo. Government of Extremadura
Mechanical Systems Engineering: JG asociados
Structural Engineering: Alfonso Gómez Gaite. GOGAITE
Clerk of the works: José Luís Periañez
Competition date: September 2006
Project date: September 2007
Finish date: May 2011
Built area: 1,500 sqm
Budget: €1.900.000

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by Matilde Peralta del Amo appeared first on Dezeen.

Local studio El Equipo Creativo reinterpreted traditional wooden Peruvian cloth-weaving equipment to create angled panels from thick threads stretched across wooden frames. Some of the frames are twined with white cords to contrast with the colourful sections.

The panels pass over the heads of diners who are served a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine at Patka, which means "union" in Peru.

A grid of wooden batons creates shelves above a bar at the front of the space, which serves sake and pisco - local tipples in Japan and Peru respectively.

This grid sits against the window at the front of the long narrow building, allowing bottles and crockery to be displayed.

In the main restaurant, a sushi bar separated into chunky units is surrounded by wooden dining surfaces lit with spotlights, while light bulbs dangle above more tables flanked by red seats.

Located just off the Avinguda Parallel, close to Montjuic Park, the restaurant opened as joint venture between chefs Ferran Adrià and his brother Albert, and owners the Iglesias brothers.

Dezeen published a travelling pavilion designed for Adrià's gastronomic research initiative elBulli Foundation last year.

We've featured a couple of restaurant interiors recently, such as a London pizza bar decorated with colourful tiles and an eatery in a converted car park near Stockholm.

More designs in the Catalan capital include a renovated apartment with restored mosaic floors and a laundrette that looks like a nightclub.

See more restaurant interiors »
See more architecture and design in Barcelona »

El Equipo Creativo sent us the following information:

Design of Pakta Restaurant, Calle Lleida, Barcelona

After the success of the restaurant Tickets and the cocktail lounge 41º, the tandem formed by Albert and Ferran Adria and the Iglesias bothers has once again counted on El Equipo Creativo to design their latest gastronomic project: Pakta Restaurant. A small locale was chosen in the same area close to the Avenida Paralelo in Barcelona, on the slope going up towards the Mercat de la Flors and Montjuic Park. The novelty is in the gastronomic offer, based on the nikkei Peruvian - Japanese cuisine and, of course, the design of the space, which, as in previous projects by Oliver Franz Schmidt and Natali Canas del Pozo, is a reflection of the gastronomic concept.

Concept

In the Quechua language of Peru Pakta means “union”; in this case the union of two cultures and their respective cuisines . The interior design created by El Equipo Creativo emerges from this same idea, considering that Japanese cuisine is the basis of the nikkei gastronomy but wrapped in Peruvian tastes, colours, traditions and ingredients. With this in mind, the basic elements of the restaurant such as the bars, the kitchen and the furniture are designed with a clear reference to the architecture of the traditional Japanese taverns.
An explosion of colours evocative of Peru envelopes the space. This chromatic “second skin” is achieved by use of a direct reference to the Peruvian loom, offering a surprising combination of colours which contrast with the austere Japanese design, and underlining the deep-rootedness of this artefact in Peruvian arts and crafts.

However, the re-interpretation of the Peruvian loom goes further, sequencing its own elaboration process on the walls of Pakta, transforming this flat surface to offer a tridimensional character to the space, adding vitality and movement and blurring the limits which mark the locale. The traditional Peruvian weaving looms are wooden mechanisms where colored threads intertwine in various directions, forming a suggestive tridimensional space which generates an attractive atmosphere transformed and reinterpreted in Pakta.
The final result unites the re-interpretation of these two cultures--Peruvian and Japanese-- by means of some of their most emblematic traditional elements, creating a visually potent but balanced solution, at once spontaneous and rational, hilarious and silent, surprising but strangely familiar, as is the nikkei cuisine itself.

Space and Distribution

As the small locale is long and narrow with a tiny facade, from the beginning of the project it is clear that maximum advantage must be taken of the space. The work areas are divided into three zones:

In the entrance, the sake and pisco bar also acts as a filter between the interior and exterior of the locale. It is a three dimensional framework which serves as a shelf, visual filter and product display stand. Facing outside, the bar becomes the facade and welcomes guests with a composition of faded colours, Japanese lamps, graphics elements and a small selection of products on display. In order to enter the restaurant, the guest passes through the wooden framework, as an introduction to the dining space.

Presiding the dining area is the sushi bar. Structurally speaking, it is completely antagonistic to the sake and pisco bar as it is composed of three heavy, luminous stone pieces, upon which the sushimen work slowly but surely serving directly to the clients who sit around them. The idea of dividing the bar into three separate and elevated “stones” helps to contain the reduced scale of the locale and create a sense of strange levity among the heavy pieces.

Closing the space at the end of the dining area is the kitchen, conceived as a luminous box which allows the cooks inside to be observed through a layer of glass panels with different degrees of transparency.

Technical details

Lighting

The lighting is achieved in collaboration with the BMLD Lighting Design. The main objective is to create an atmosphere which will put the focus on the served dish and the food. The cultural impact of the Peruvian - Japanese restaurant is what determines the lighting concept: fusion of light and dark, simplicity and colour.

The concept is evident by using dim light in some of the looms, thereby creating rhythm and dynamism. It is a game of rationalism, shine and transparency, important concepts in the Japanese culture, as reflected in the sensual lamps on each table and the lanterns which mingle with the three dimensional framework at the entrance. The result reveals a balance between light and atmosphere, where the client is submerged in a new gastronomic experience.

The Looms

The looms envelope the entire dining area by means of three different transversal sections which repeat themselves, varying their tonality and creating a rhythm of variable colour. A few longitudinal pieces placed in different positions and at varying heights help to weave the space and create a sense of enclosure.

The colored looms are designed one by one, intercalating full spaces and empty ones, areas of great chromatic intensity with other more neutral shades, warm colores (reds, golds) with cooler tones (greens and browns). The cloth used on the looms is cotton of hand-made appearance, rough touch and dull finish. In contrast to the profusion of colour, the loom is white and is constructed in a fine, shiny material, thereby becoming a light-reflector.

The structure of the looms is a double wooden frame. The woven cloth revolves around the interior frame, which is joined to the exterior frame by a tensor which permits the threads on the loom to be tensed whenever necessary.

The Finishes

For Pakta, El Equipo Creativo considered it essential to maintain the purity of nature so present in both the Japanese and Peruvian cultures. Therefore, only natural finishes with a minimal transformation from their original state were used.

The wood used in the bars and tables is American oak in which small imperfections and knots are left untouched converting them in differentiating elements which add personality to the pieces. Likewise, the sushi bars built in marble from Novelda, intentionally have a crude, unpolished finish with cracks and streaks that are reminiscent of those pieces taken from a quarry.

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El Equipo Creativo appeared first on Dezeen.

The existing white-painted building was left intact, with the extensions joined to external walls or added to gaps between the structures.

The steel volumes contain new facilities including an indoor pool, spa and game room, while a roof deck provides additional outdoor space with views of the nearby bay.

An elongated extension housing the game room and a new bedroom projects into the garden and the spa area is buried in the side of a hill.

The walls, ceiling and floors in the spa are covered with ipe wood (also known as Brazilian walnut) which adds warmth to the subterranean space, while south facing windows admit plentiful daylight.

The architects explain that the the Corten volumes "surround and embrace the old house, generating an innovative combination between the existing building and the new 'boxes' of steel."

As well as creating an aesthetic contrast, Corten steel was chosen because it is "a 'living' material that changes over the years; acquiring the patina that [the] test of time provides to noble materials."

We recently featured a landscape architecture project comprising several Corten steel structures scattered across a Spanish hillside.

See all of our stories about Corten steel and check out our Pinterest board dedicated to the material.

Photography is by José Hevia.

Here are some more details from the architects:

Kubik extension

Extreme contrast: extension of a single-family detached home in Mallorca.

The intervention in an existing building, and even more so with the ambition of this project, is always a delicate matter.

In this case the client wanted to add many programme requirements to the current house: an indoor pool, a game room and several rooms in addition to reorganizing the existing dwelling.

It was chosen, after much research, to extend the house through an exercise of Extreme Contrast.

The possibility of intervening in the façades of the existing house to adjust them to a more current aesthetic was cast aside; instead the contemporary language of the new volumes was emphasized to maximise contrast.

The result is a series of "boxes" that surround and embrace the old house, generating an innovative combination between the existing building and the new "boxes" of steel. This combination enhances both architectures: the framing of the new volumes highlights the old, of little value and the new stands out greatly in contrast to the former.

The materialisation of the project was in line with the concept; the original building was left in the same state, painted white, with sloping Arab tile roofs and wood carpentry, whilst the extension was done with Corten steel searching for rotundity of the elements.

Corten steel is a material that clearly contrasts with the already existing dwelling, as required by the concept. It is also a "living" material that changes over the years; acquiring the patina that test of time provides to noble materials.

The combination of both languages creates interesting situations and new programmes for the dwelling. The entrance sequence, which is essential in a house, is enhanced by architectural intervention: a new volume conceived as porch wraps-up arrivals; and the volume that houses the new bathroom of the main room projects over the garden creating a new porch which emphasises the exit to the garden, as well as it offers spectacular views over the bay of Palma. At the far ends of the house both the new bedroom as well as the game room project from the main volume stretching the house and spanning more garden and providing further views. Finally the indoor pool and spa are below ground level.

This unique space features a swimming pool, a small spa area and gym. A large window to the south maximizes the relationship with the surroundings and views, so that the SPA can become a semi-outdoor space. Aiming to provide this space with the maximum warmth, close attention has been paid to the materials in this area: the volume of concrete that forms the SPA is covered with IPE wood on both ground and ceiling, creating a continuous space that surrounds the pools, these in turn mollify in white marble to brighten the space. This way, users forget that they are in a buried space.

The result is a very cosy environment suitable for the purpose for which it is intended.

The house is situated on a plot within a pine forest, with a steep slope facing south and offers extensive views over the bay of Palma. By placing the semi-buried SPA volume in front of the house, advantage is taken of the SPA’s roof deck to extend the garden; thus the dwelling obtains a space it was lacking: a large landscaped horizontal surface.

KUBIK EXTENSION is a GRAS arquitectos project, Guillermo Reynes with Alvaro Perez

Architects: GRAS arquitectos, Guillermo Reynés con Álvaro Perez
Location: Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Area: 950 m2
Year: 2013
Photography:  José Hevia

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GRAS arquitectos appeared first on Dezeen.

Nook Architects found the two apartments in a poor state, with several adaptations over the years leaving them with a confused layout of compartmentalised rooms and very little natural light.

Layers of false ceilings, flooring and dividing walls were removed and the entrances were relocated to give the apartments a similar size and layout.

Each apartment is organised into a day zone oriented towards the street and a night zone towards the quieter rear facade.

Dividing the two zones is a chunk of wooden flooring, which extends upwards into a bench. Above it is a metal rail that conceals a strip of lighting and acts as a clothes hanger.

The polished concrete floors give way to unpolished concrete in the bathrooms, which are open to the rest of the space, with the showers and toilets separated by a translucent screen.

Last year the same architects completed another apartment in Barcelona with original mosaic flooring and exposed wooden ceiling beams.

Other apartments in Barcelona we've featured include a renovation featuring furniture that folds out from the walls and another with a spinning mirror and a room dedicated to ironing – see all projects from Barcelona, or see all apartments on Dezeen.

Photographs are by Nieve.

Here's some more information from the architects:

Twin House
Two apartments in Barcelona
Nook Architects

From the historic Gothic Quarter in Barcelona, a project for two adjacent apartments arrived to us, which turned out to be a diamond in the rough.
The dwellings were on a deplorable state; several low quality interventions from different times overlapped each other.

Its distribution was the result of common customs of the past in which the space was highly compartmentalised, generating small rooms with little or no natural light or ventilation.

The first intervention consisted on stripping down the structure, removing layer after layer of false ceilings, pavements, and coatings, added over the years to the original state. Once the essence of the building was restored, we began our final intervention.

The two existing apartments shared the stair's landing. The unfortunate placement of the access doors resulted in two different typologies that could barely be distributed under balanced conditions. By relocating the entries and taking into consideration the original elements that were rediscovered, we created a new space that reclaimed the original spirit.

The original wooden beams were treated to avoid future plagues, and were reinforced with steel elements to limit their strain. The same was done with the floor; a compression layer was added, firming up the girder-slab, and evening out the floor level.

This newly sound space, divided by a thick load-bearing wall, was configured in two zones: the day zone, oriented towards the street and the liveliness of the neighbourhood, and the night zone, located on the posterior, more quiet façade.

We arranged the basic elements for the functions and commodities of today, like the kitchen and bathroom, in a subtle manner that was respectful to the space. We therefore treated the kitchen as if it were wooden furniture inside the living room, horizontal, with under the counter refrigerator and freezer to avoid any vertical, tall standing units, and white wall-units that camouflage with the background.

The bathroom was likewise incorporated into the bedroom, leaving the washbasin open to the rest of space, which is only differentiated by changing the floor level. The only compartmentalised elements were the shower and toilet, separated from the rest of the space by a light, and translucent wall.

The two wet zones of the house are therefore contiguous and line the median wall of the neighbouring building, minimising the water and sanitary installations. The glazed tiles boost this idea of a horizontal strip that contains the humid zones, simultaneously revitalising the reclaimed envelope.

A wooden plank was embedded into the concrete floor, establishing a threshold between the living room and the sleeping quarters. This plank then folds and lifts up and turns into a night table or a bench. Above the plank, we placed a metal profile that contains lighting and acts like a hanger and support for possible curtain.

Our objective with this refurbishment with such a tight budget was to create an infrastructure that would hint to the user how personalise it later. A carefully studied configuration of polyvalent and proportionate spaces multiplies the possibilities of two very small dwellings with very large potential.

Architects: nook architects
Location: Barcelona, España
Year: 2013
Photography: nieve | Productora Audiovisual
Furniture: Casa Jornet

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Nook Architects appeared first on Dezeen.

Constructed in the nineteenth century, the building previously featured a series of outdoor paddocks and a large courtyard, used for storing livestock before the slaughtering process. As part of the renovation, Sol89 has extended the building into these spaces to create kitchens and classrooms.

Like most of the town's architecture, white-painted walls surrounded the perimeter of the slaughterhouse site and now enclose both the new and old sections of the building.

The original pitched roof is clad with traditional clay tiles, but the architects used modern flat ceramics to give a vibrant red to the asymmetric gables that make up the roof of the extension.

"If we observe Medina-Sidonia from a distance, it seems to be a unique ceramic creation moulded by the topography of Medina," explain architects María González and Juanjo López de la Cruz. "The Professional Cooking School uses this idea of the moulded ceramic plane to draw its geometry. This roof lends unity to the built complex and interprets the traditional construction of the place."

The original arched doorway remains as the entrance to the school and leads in via the old structure. Inside, the architects have replaced the original flooring with exposed concrete that skirts around a set of historic columns in the main hall.

The kitchens are lined with tiles on the floors and walls. High level windows help to bring light in from above, while small glass courtyards are positioned at intervals to provide areas for students to grow vegetables and herbs.

A few slaughterhouses in Spain have been converted to new uses in recent years. Others we've featured include an office and event space in Madrid and a cinema in the same city.

See more architecture projects in Spain, including the restoration of a coastal landscape in Cadaqués.

Photography is by Fernando Alda - see more pictures of this project on his website.

Here's some more information from Sol89

Medina is a historic town in the hills in Cadiz. Its houses are known for their whitewashed walls and their ceramic roofs. The project involves adapting an ancient slaughterhouse, built in the XIX century, into a Professional Cooking School.

The ancient slaughterhouse was composed of a small construction around a courtyard and a high white wall that limits the plot. If you are going to act in the historic city you must adapting, taking shelter, settling in its empty spaces. The density of the architecture of the ancient slaughterhouse, where brick walls, stones and Phoenician columns coexist, contrasts with the empty space inside the plot, limited by the wall. The project proposes catching this space through a new ceramic roof that limits the new construction and consolidates the original building.

If we observe Medina Sidonia from a distance, it seems to be a unique ceramic creation molded by the topography of Medina. The Professional Cooking School uses this idea of the molded ceramic plane to draw its geometry. This roof lends unity to the built complex and interprets the traditional construction of the place, ceramic roofs and whitewashed walls. Some little courtyards are inserted, working as ventilation shaft, and are cultivated with different culinary plants which are used by the students to cook.

At the original building, ancient floors were replaced by slabs of concrete with wooden formwork that recognise traditional building forms, walls are covered with white and rough lime mortar which seeks material memory of its industrial past, and the existing Phoenician columns, displaced from the disappeared Temple of Hercules, have been consolidated. All of those materials, even the time, built this place.

Architects: María González y Juanjo López de la Cruz. Sol89
Team: George Smudge (architecture student), Jerónimo Arrebola (quantity surveyor), Alejandro Cabanas (structure), Insur JG (building services), Novoarididian SA y Rhodas SL (contractors)

Client: Fundación Forja XXI
Location: C/ Rubiales S/N, Medina Sidonia, Cádiz, Spain
Area: 751 sqm
Completion date: 2011

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Ancient Slaughterhouse by Sol89 appeared first on Dezeen.