Emma Martí celebrates Menorca's architectural heritage in Hevresac Lodge
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 a neighborhood service provider and privateer, is about within the historic centre of Mahón – a former commerce hub that also bears traces of French and English tradition after spending a few years beneath colonial rule.
Hevresac house owners Ignasi Truyol and Stephanie Mahé introduced Martí on board for the renovation partly as a result of she was an outdated buddy, who they thought might be trusted to preserve and improve the spirit and character of the constructing.
Martí’s purpose for the undertaking was to fill the constructing with mild and life whereas preserving its wealth of present architectural parts, from picket beams and mosaic flooring to stucco partitions and staircases.
“The purpose of the undertaking was to create a contemporary and galvanizing resort that values the great thing about the present structure,” stated the resort’s house owners.
Hevresac’s unique flooring, lined variously in picket parquet and encaustic cement tiles, have been fastidiously preserved.
In areas the place it was not doable to retain the unique parts, 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 non-public bogs inside every of the present bedrooms utilizing a light-weight timber framing system manufactured from stable Flanders pine, whereas three-ply spruce boards type 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 house owners stated.
A brand new staircase – additionally utilising spruce ply – now coexists with the unique staircase, offering another route by means of the Hevresac Lodge.
The fabric is vital 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 mild, a number of skylights have been added on the higher flooring, with one above the principle stairwell in addition to three new openings within the facade.
Within the basement, the vaulted ceiling manufactured from native marés stone required an intervention to lighten the area.
Martí’s response was to take away a bay of the present vault and set up a brand new, extra snug staircase to hyperlink the bottom flooring with the basement and flood the area with mild.
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 sort of synergy,” the house owners 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 plenty of initiatives on the island.
Amongst them is a piece retreat inside an deserted ladies’ faculty, with design-driven areas the place companies can host conferences or team-building classes.
The images is by Pol Viladoms
