Spanish architect Emma Martí has transformed an 18th-century townhouse on the Balearic island of Menorca into the intimate eight-bedroom Hevresac Lodge, taking on all of its 5 flooring from basement to attic.
The constructing, which initially belonged to an area service provider and privateer, is ready within the historic centre of Mahón – a former commerce hub that also bears traces of French and English tradition after spending a few years underneath colonial rule.
Hevresac homeowners Ignasi Truyol and Stephanie Mahé introduced Martí on board for the renovation partially as a result of she was an outdated buddy, who they thought may very well be trusted to preserve and improve the spirit and character of the constructing.
Martí’s intention for the undertaking was to fill the constructing with gentle and life whereas preserving its wealth of current architectural components, from wood beams and mosaic flooring to stucco partitions and staircases.
“The intention of the undertaking was to create a recent and galvanizing resort that values the fantastic thing about the prevailing structure,” stated the resort’s homeowners.
Hevresac’s unique flooring, coated variously in wood parquet and encaustic cement tiles, had been fastidiously preserved.
In areas the place it was not potential to retain the unique components, Martí selected a brand new design language utilizing fashionable equivalents of those unique supplies, together with micro-cement.
The renovation course of revealed each the stucco on the partitions and the unique paintwork on the beams, uncovering a part of the constructing’s hidden historical past.
The unique wrought iron columns in the lounge at the moment are a celebrated function. Much less noticeable however equally fascinating is the Masonic symbolism on the wrought-iron railing of the marble staircase on the entrance.
Martí additionally wished to protect the unique room construction of the townhouse.
To permit for this, she added personal loos inside every of the prevailing bedrooms utilizing a light-weight timber framing system product of strong Flanders pine, whereas three-ply spruce boards kind partitions, headboards and wardrobes in every bed room.
“Martí’s intention is for the brand new supplies to coexist and harmonise with the originals, offering a brand new language, lightness and contemporaneity,” the homeowners stated.
A brand new staircase – additionally utilising spruce ply – now coexists with the unique staircase, offering an alternate route by the Hevresac Lodge.
The fabric is essential to the modern language of the brand new insertions, which sit clearly differentiated alongside layers of the constructing’s previous.
“I wish to work with an trustworthy and frank angle in direction of the island’s architectural heritage,” Martí advised Dezeen. “I wished it to be clear what our intervention was, to not spotlight it however to focus on the worth of what existed within the constructing.”
To fill the areas with pure gentle, a number of skylights had been added on the higher ground, with one above the principle stairwell in addition to three new openings within the facade.
Within the basement, the vaulted ceiling product of native marés stone required an intervention to lighten the house.
Martí’s response was to take away a bay of the prevailing vault and set up a brand new, extra comfy staircase to hyperlink the bottom ground with the basement and flood the house with gentle.
Hevresac’s selection of furnishings displays Mahón’s cosmopolitan historical past, together with an eclectic meeting of vintage, classic and modern items from throughout Europe.
Amongst them are Nanimarquina rugs, Achille Castiglioni lights and a few of Marcel Breuer’s Cesca chairs, in addition to gadgets from Menorcan vintage sellers together with Alcolea & Kraus and Antics Antigüedades.
“It is a form of synergy,” the homeowners stated. “Collectively, the elements undertaking a heat, artistic and private composition, which is greater than the algebraical sum of these particular person items.”
Martí, who based her self-titled studio Emma Martí Arquitectura in Menorca in 2013, has since accomplished various initiatives on the island.
Amongst them is a piece retreat inside an deserted ladies’ college, with design-driven areas the place companies can host conferences or team-building periods.
The images is by Pol Viladoms
