[Richaud Arquitectura]
The old factory of “Galletas Richaud Hermanos” was located in the San Román neighborhood, in the City of San Francisco de Campeche until the mid-’60s. Then it became the family residence until 1981 when it was abandoned; the original sign is still legible today. In 1989, a 619 sq. meter section of the property with access from another road was used to build a house for one of the family members. It is this same family that has recovered a 277 sq. meter addition using part of the original façade of the factory. The unbeneficial relationship of the preexisting Colonial building and the residence from the ‘80s generates the search for a meeting point; the dining room is remodeled, extended and opened, for a continuous relationship with the garden that they now share.
The proposal contemplates recovering and restoring the preexisting Colonial structure and giving it a new purpose. The original layout of the colonial house is maintained and the original masonry walls are uncovered to emphasize the age of the property. The purpose of this annex was always that of a “social recreation area”, contained in 186 sq. meters. It was impossible to recover the ceilings, so a new ceiling completely displaced from the original walls was conceived. The project creates a large “Terrace between walls”, contained by the original squares, roofed by a floating ceiling, supported by metal PTRs and anchored to the masonry walls.
By leaving the original layout, a pool is conceived between open-air walls. A total checksum coating is chosen for the pool to blend in with the stone environment, thus generating the look of a naturally flowing body of water. In the garden, the trees and preexisting masonry were preserved. The original floors were damaged, so pasta tiles were used, with different colorful designs in each of the areas as a delimitation. In the lobby, the walls were “tinted” with green paste because they were not originals and the preexisting walls were sought to be highlighted. This rule had an exception in the guestroom and its bathroom, where the paste was partially used.
The covered area as a terrace between the walls contains a kitchen bar and a living-dining room. The kitchen-bar countertops are made of tinted concrete and cast-in-place with recycled glass, which achieves a rustic finish with mineral touches. In the living-dining room, some original wooden beams that supported the ceiling were used as decoration. The ceiling is left as bare polished white concrete to blend in with the whole. Through the recovery and restoration of a piece of history, highlighting the ancient construction techniques of the Yucatan Peninsula and fusing them with modern ones, Casa ExFábrica Richaud is given the opportunity to reencounter its roots. Space between walls, surrounded by great vegetation makes it an oasis within the city. Text description by the architect.
Source: www.archdaily.com
Photography by: Manolo R. Solis
