From the public library to the hardware store: these are the best works of Galician architects

Twelve projects that are divided between Vigo, Santiago, Nigrán, Ourense, Cambre, Moaña and O Rosal. The College of Architects of Galicia (COAG) spoke and selected the best works of the community in its twentieth edition and at an event held at the Sargadelos factory, in Cervo.

The best works are from family homes, through libraries or rehabilitation centers.

Nigrán City Library

Promoted by Lucas Gándara Álvarez and Juan Pons Herrera, it is recognized in the “new buildings” section. Until now, such facilities were outside the urban core. It strives to bring the library closer and enable it to be used for different purposes. Also that the building was not an autonomous entity. It is about “creating a city, building a street and rounding off the urban fabric”.

House taken, Vigo

The project is located on a plot of semi-detached houses, but with small dimensions and a steep slope. From Castroferro Arquitectos they were aware of the limited margin for creating an intimate space. The ground floor of this house has a small terrace, and the bedroom has a terrace. “A simple program, solved in a very compact way, with the area of ​​communication and services”. For this, they used everything from thermoclay to heat-treated pine.

Cornes, residential area, Santiago

There are 125 homes, garages and storage rooms in which the Carbajo Barrios studio managed to develop 22 different types of homes, both on one floor and in duplexes. The space is for public use and has three covered common areas: a children’s room, a gym and a dining room. The buildings are located on land occupied by the Cornes railway station since 1873.

Galician Center for Innovation in Vocational EducationOurense

This commission came to Muller Feijoo Arquitectos in 2019. The goal is to restore the Escola Hogar de Mariñamansa in Ourense and turn it into a space for all kinds of activities related to professional training. It is a building from 1970 that has not been used for a decade. The project tries to propose, according to sustainability criteria, a response to the necessary revitalization and recycling of abandoned buildings.

Malasa Ironworks, Cambre

Sinaldaba faced the project with doubts and the question of how to get away from preconceived ideas about what a hardware store is. “The project was born with the aim of trying to establish a clear order, which invites you to enter, eliminating the superfluous and trying to reach the essential”. A neutral container is generated where it is possible to collect some elements that give order and serve as exhibitors-containers for the product”.

Exhibition Uncultivated landscapes, metamorphosis of the Galician mountains

It is about Cristina García Fontán’s intervention in Cidade da Cultura, more precisely in Hejduk’s towers, which she transforms into a forest landscape. The original carrier that reaches all points of the complex.

Pilot project Rúa Azul, Moaña and Cangas

Martín Barreiro Cruz and Diego Germade Castelo are known for their «pedestrian and cycle path intercity connections». They seek to improve and update a unique and complex “habitat”, such as the urbanized areas of Rías Baixas, an area with a high concentration of single-family homes. «Blue streets provide public space in front of houses, not a place where people live».

Ramp-arrival via the French road to Santiago

Creus e Carrasco Arquitectos proposes an intervention on the Jacobin road and near the city. “The work resolves the arrival of the French road in a conflicting place that coincides with the meeting between the foot of Monte do Gozo with the N-634 highway and other high-speed infrastructure, such as the AP-9 highway or the Atlantic axis railway that surround it”. Steep stairs solved the descending part. This proposal saves strong bumps of almost 9 meters.

Esplanade of the horizon, oh Rosal

María Fandiño proposes the creation of a park in this area protected by the Serra da Groba, taking as a starting point a large esplanade. “The task was to create a park, and the project became the rehabilitation of the coastal part.”

Recreational-logistics vector on the coast

Recognized in the final graduation project category, Alejandro Vázquez Correa wonders: «What if the sea were to regain its rightful place? What if we citizens could enjoy the sea again? This architect believes that cities no longer coexist with the sea. For this reason, his is a playful-logistical project of coexistence on the coast. “Faber Ludens understands that machine shops must be an integral part of the world we live in.”