Old Salt-Fish Processing Centre, now Casa de Aldán, in Cangas

This is the winner of a Diploma.

The rehabilitation of a century old salt-fish factory into a rural tourism house on the Galician coast. Initially, the site was in a state of total abandonment, leaving the building in ruins.

The ruins of the stone walls were used as a starting point for the new design which uses the additional materials of cedar and oxidized steel and glass, chosen for their resistance to the effects of the close-by salt water. The new design takes advantage of the simple forms of the old factory and combines the new materials into forms which harmonize well with their surroundings.

“For the sensitive and delicate rehabilitation of an old stone ruin, allowing traces of the past to co-exist with the modern style and spaces of its new function as a rural tourist accommodation.”