José Manuel Casabella López, José Luis Martínez Raído, Héctor Santos-Díez · PROVINCIAL HISTORICAL ARCHIVE IN THE OLD SAN FRANCISCO CONVENT

Héctor Santos-Díez

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The new Provincial Historical Archive Headquarters, built under the directives of the architects Mr. José Manuel Casabella López and Mr. José Luis Martínez Raído, is destined to become a large cultural complex, closely linked to the State Public Library, the Conservatory of Music and the City Auditorium.
Within the complex, an extensive program is developed in response to functional requirements that has been arranged in 3 main areas:

+Reserved area, with restricted access (warehouses and work area).
+Private area, with controlled access (offices and administration).

Public access area (consultation rooms, exhibition rooms and cloister).
In the search for dialogue, the compatibility of the new uses with the original structure of the building, the need to intervene in a subtle way and give all the prominence to the convent, large open-plan warehouses have been recovered and preserved where the spaces can be developed the necessary reception, exhibition rooms, research and consultation rooms, assembly hall, classrooms and pedagogical cabinets, administrative offices and management, among others. The convent complex has been fully restored through this architectural project that includes multiple fields and disciplines (architecture, engineering, archeology, restoration and interior design) that substantially affect the property, the visitor and the environment, so that the historical complex regains lost prominence. The end result allows the convent and especially its Gothic cloister to be musealized, thus allowing future conservation processes to be kept alive. However, the convent has been able to steadily avoid the passing of the centuries despite the fact that since its origins, it has undergone multiple metamorphoses that have endangered its continuity, undergoing innumerable interventions that have adapted its spaces to new uses and destinations.