HUMANISING A FACTORY THROUGH A ZERO-IMPACT PROJECT
The intervention by NUA arquitectures in the offices of the industrial hall of the textile company Tuvatèxtil introduces a new lightweight timber system with the aim of stitching together the different structures present in the hall: the large industrial spans and the more conventional ones that have emerged over the years.
The project recycles and reuses as many elements as possible, thus achieving a zero-impact building. It also cares for and improves the workers’ quality of life by activating part of the complex’s public space with a square that enhances the office access area and provides it with a function of rest and social interaction.
History, Place, and the Inhabitants
The project for the extension and rehabilitation of the Tuvatèxtil offices addresses the recycling, reorganisation, and enlargement of the offices and all shared spaces of this textile factory, located at the foot of the Barranc de les Bruixes, on the outskirts of the historic centre of El Pont d’Armentera, a settlement of Roman origin especially linked to water through aqueducts, irrigation channels, mills, weirs, and textile factories.
Tuvatèxtil is one of the last companies inheriting the extraordinary local textile industrial tradition, which began in the 12th century with the medieval fulling mills of the Gaià River and reached its peak in the early 20th century with a total of twelve factories, forming the most important single-industry textile hub in southern Catalonia.
The project seeks to revalue this entire tradition of social fabric, now practically vanished, through a joyful intervention that cares for and improves the quality of life of the people who inhabit this factory, while celebrating the memory of all those ancestors who forged the local culture of El Pont d’Armentera.
Weaving as a Concept of Intervention
The project for the new offices is articulated through the activation of part of the complex’s public space and through a rehabilitation and transformation intervention of the pre-existing industrial sheds.
Opposite the entrance to the new offices, a new tree-lined square emerges: a stamped era that becomes a new meeting point for the people who work in the factory, humanising spaces originally conceived solely for vehicle circulation. This new communal space opens onto the wine-growing landscape, understood as a place of enjoyment and rest, through a woven pergola of three vaults and a dry-stone wall. The square is laid out following the dominant industrial structural lines. A play of embroidered benches, trees, and light fixtures of varying heights alternate to define different areas, shaping a space for access, gathering, and celebration.
Secondly, the transformation of the existing sheds occurs through the reinterpretation of the different superimposed constructions, in which large-span industrial structures of various typologies and heights coexist with more conventional structures that have grown organically within them. The proposal stitches together these non-coinciding structural logics by means of a new lightweight timber system that contrasts with the heavy prefabricated concrete structure of the sheds and uses structural tension as an organising element.
On the ground floor, reusing a pre-existing conventional structure, the shared spaces, entrances, services, changing rooms, building services, and dining areas are located, all of them linked to the meeting square. Access to all rooms takes place through a new, generous central passage that connects the square with the interior service courtyard, conceived as a vestibule, a welcoming and transitional space that receives visitors with a red carpet and accompanies them into the factory. Once inside the hall, the new interior façade extends the existing building by means of a lightweight suspended walkway on the first floor and a new ceramic staircase that continue the passage. Both are configured through a diaphragmatic timber structure that stitches together the different volumes, uses, and depths.
The first floor, conceived as an open-plan space, frees up its entire length to accommodate the offices, defining the different work areas through modular timber furniture. The various environments follow the rhythm of the large-span industrial structure and are organised according to degrees of privacy by means of modular wooden shelving placed beneath the large concrete beams. The “chimney spaces” — vestibule, services, and offices — are arranged along the interior façade as an acoustic filter between the factory and the offices, freeing the bay in contact with the exterior to allow for a shared workspace that seeks the comfort of natural light and ventilation. All office services are housed within the voids of these new chimneys, which rise towards the ceiling through hoods designed to capture all the light from the skylights of the existing roof.
Preserving and Reusing
The main strategy is the recycling and reuse of as many elements as possible in order to reduce waste generation and the ecological footprint derived from rehabilitation and construction. In this regard, all pre-existing structures are reused, preserved, and enhanced, recycling and reinterpreting the entire envelope, as well as the pergola columns and the stones from a demolished old wall, which are used to build the new dry-stone wall.
This primary action is reinforced by a lightweight constructive intervention that reduces the number of building layers and employs natural materials with a long service life and low, or zero, carbon footprint, such as locally sourced ceramic or timber. Formally, the project pays special attention to passive systems that allow all spaces in the building to be naturally lit and ventilated through the opening of windows and skylights, facilitating cooling through air movement and the renewal of cubic metres of air.
The existing walls exposed to the elements are insulated with an external envelope that allows their internal thermal inertia to be preserved, minimizing thermal transmittance and CO₂ consumption. The building’s exposure to the western sun is naturally regulated by deciduous vegetation, which also allows the square to be understood as a climatic refuge in both summer and winter.
Finally, interior vegetation is used as a natural air-purification system, capable of absorbing CO₂ and producing O₂, naturally humidifying, regulating temperature, and increasing environmental and psychological comfort, reducing the environmental impact of construction and improving people’s quality of life.
Recycling, waste minimisation, and the constructive fixation of CO₂, together with the reduction of the conditioned surface area and the careful sizing of centralised installations, make it possible to construct a building with zero impact.
CREDITS
Authors: NUA arquitectures (Arnau Tiñena, Ferran Tiñena, Maria Rius)
Team: Dani Muñoz, Paula Roch, Jordi Canela, Júlia Franquet, Silvia Ledda, Chiara Cabras
Collaborators
Structures: Windmill Structural
Consultants Engineering: Pellicer Enginyers
Quantity Surveyor: Albert Vilà
