Pilarica is a project for the reactivation of an industrial space in the urban fabric of the city of Madrid. This project is the first of an ongoing series whose goal is to protect the city's industrial heritage through use and occupation formulas which allow to prolong its lifespan, preventing its disappearance.

Industrial activity in Madrid city center has gradually lost its traction during the last thirty years; nowadays, such use has virtually disappeared. The reasons behind this situation are similar in many city centers: on one hand, environmental protection regulations, especially those concerning noise and pollution; on the other, the exodus of these uses outside the cities centers. As a consequence, urban industrial buildings have become obsolete, and the ones left which are currently being used are the ones still owned by small scale guilds. Most of these spaces are placed on the ground floors of residential buildings, extending its areas beyond the back of the buildings, invading the natural space of the block’s courtyard. Since these plots are now mainly commercial and residential, no longer requiring the use of these spaces of great volume and surface area, the current urban planning regulations seek to recover the patios by the consequent demolition of the structures that occupy them. The tool developed within the urban planning regulations for this purpose is the change of use, in these particular cases, from industrial to residential use. An industrial space can be converted into a residential space as long as a series of requirements described in the municipal ordinance are met, such as minimum lighting, ventilation or accessibility conditions. However, the most drastic transformations arise from the limitation in the floor area regarding its depth, measured from the façade, preventing the implementation of residential use in those constructions that invade block courtyards, inevitably forcing the demolition of the industrial buildings that occupy them. The incentive to make such changes of use is provided by the real estate market, which causes the value of the plot to triple or quadruple when it is converted into a residential space, prompted mainly by the bubble of rental prices that the city suffers. Although part of this situation is understandable, since there is a pretension of improving the interior conditions of the residential blocks, these guidelines condemn this typology to disappear as the city increasingly becomes more and more unitary in its use.

Our proposal for Pilarica tries to find urban and architectural tools that allow the preservation of these structures in the same context that wants to see them disappear. The programmatic proposal is a hybrid between a public space and a private space, a productive and a residential space. The intervention on the building was based in part on the recovery and enhancement of the spatial volume of the building, demolishing the additions that had appeared during its years of activity, as well as the climate conditioning of the space to promote said proposed uses. At the same time, we developed two functional modules to allow the use of the different areas of the space. On the lower level, we insert a wash-and-dry tunnel designed in relation to the artistic production that takes place in this space, as well as a small bathroom located next to it. On the upper floor, a functional module is placed that concentrates the needs and desires of the tenants, delimiting different areas and making the space habitable. The finishes on the ground floor are raw and neutral, aimed to enable, without conditioning, the intended activity of the space. The upper floor, on the other hand, seeks to approach a domestic and more personal use, looking for a contrast between smooth and rough, soft and hard textures. The insertion of these uses seeks to emulate the insertion of the industrial machinery employed in previous occupations of this space. Just like a cheese pasteurising tank or an automotive painting booth, these pieces occupy the premises temporarily, without definitively conditioning the possibilities of this space and therefore facilitating the reprogrammation of the space by a potential future tenant.

Pilarica seeks to protect the industrial heritage of the city of Madrid through use and occupation formulas which allow to prolong its lifespan, preventing its disappearance.

Architects: BURR Studio (fka Taller de Casquería: Elena Fuertes, Ramón Martínez, Álvaro Molins, Jorge Sobejano).

Collaborators: Teresa Martínez Pagés, Manuel Alba Montes.

Constructor: Fast&Furious Office.

Area: 250 sqm.

Photographer: María Eugenia Serrano Díez

[ES]

Pilarica es un proyecto de reactivación de un espacio industrial en la trama urbana de la ciudad de Madrid. Este proyecto es el primero de una serie cuya estrategia es la protección del patrimonio industrial de la ciudad a través de fórmulas de uso y ocupación que permitan prolongar su vida y evitar su derribo. 

La actividad industrial en el centro la ciudad de Madrid ha ido perdiendo su peso paulatinamente en los últimos 30 años, hasta encontrarse en la situación actual, en la que dicho uso prácticamente ha desaparecido. Las causas son similares a las de muchos otros centros urbanos; por una parte la normativa de protección ambiental en términos de ruido y emisiones y por otra el aumento del valor del suelo, provocaron la emigración de estos usos a la periferia de la ciudad. Como consecuencia, las naves industriales urbanas han ido quedando obsoletas, siendo empleadas fundamentalmente por los pequeños gremios que todavía retienen estas propiedades. La mayoría de estos espacios, se encuentran en las plantas bajas de edificios residenciales, extendiéndose más allá del fondo del edificio e invadiendo el espacio de los patios de manzana. Tratándose ahora de una trama fundamentalmente residencial y comercial, que ya no requiere del uso de estos espacios de gran volumen y superficie, la normativa urbanística vigente busca recuperar los patios de manzana y por tanto el derribo de las estructuras que los ocupan. La herramienta empleada para ello es el cambio de uso, del uso industrial al uso residencial.

Un espacio industrial podrá convertirse en un espacio residencial siempre y cuando se cumplan una serie de requisitos descritos en la ordenanza municipal, tales como condiciones mínimas de iluminación, ventilación o accesibilidad. El cambio más drástico sin embargo supone la limitación del fondo de la edificación, que impide implantar el uso residencial en aquellas construcciones que invadan los patios de manzana, obligando a la demolición de las naves industriales que los ocupaban. El incentivo para realizar estos cambios de uso lo pone el mercado inmobiliario, provocando que el valor del suelo se pueda triplicar o cuadruplicar al convertirse en un espacio residencial, principalmente espoleado por la burbuja de los precios del alquiler que sufre la ciudad. Si bien parte de esta situación es comprensible, ya que existe una pretensión de mejora de las condiciones interiores de las manzanas residenciales, se condena la ciudad cada vez más a un uso unitario y a esta tipología a la desaparición.

Nuestra propuesta para Pilarica trata de dar con herramientas urbanísticas y arquitectónicas que permitan mantener estas estructuras en un contexto que quiere verlas desaparecer. La propuesta programática es un híbrido entre un espacio público y un espacio privado, un espacio productivo y un espacio residencial.

Pilarica busca proteger el patrimonio industrial de la ciudad de Madrid a través de fórmulas de uso y ocupación que permitan prolongar su vida y evitar su derribo.

Arquitectos: BURR Studio (fka Taller de Casquería: Elena Fuertes, Ramón Martínez, Álvaro Molins, Jorge Sobejano).

Colaboradores: Teresa Martínez Pagés, Manuel Alba Montes.

Constructora: Fast&Furious Office.

Superficie: 250 m2.

Fotografías: María Eugenia Serrano Díez