The bell tower of this monastery on the outskirts of Valencia attributes a ridged surface and darker tone that aids it stand out from the adjoining buildings .
The Monastery of Santa Catalina de Siena is situated in the Paterna district to the northwest of Valencia, and was created by neighborhood firm Hernández Arquitectos for a local community of Dominican nuns.
The new facility replaces a monastery that previously accommodated the nuns, which was positioned alongside the website in a suburban location shut to a active road and a purchasing centre.
The creating is developed as a present day and functional environment that is divided into two distinctly separate elements to reflect the different activities and demands of its occupants.
“The system is primarily based on the demands of a peculiar consumer, a congregation of practically 30 nuns whose customs, routines, and way of daily life is outdoors of what we are accustomed to doing work on,” architect Verónica Furió informed Dezeen.
“The initial step was to listen, learn and synthesise their wants in the architecture, linked to the proposals of habitability and style that we have been presenting,” Furió explained.
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Two white blocks separate the constructing into the areas utilised primarily throughout the day and people occupied at evening. The decrease volumes surrounding a courtyard incorporate spaces including a library, local community area, dining area, offices, and church, exactly where the nuns devote most of their days.
A taller annexed framework contains person accommodation units incorporating personal spaces for rest and prayer. A terrace positioned on the top floor of this constructing looks out across the city towards the sea.
Straight lines and a minimal monochrome palette seek out to emphasise the building’s simplicity and develop an unobtrusive backdrop for the nuns’ life-style, as nicely as for a assortment of furnishings and relics dating from as far back as the 15th century.
“The white synthesises the premises of the practical system, making a clean container that is pure, straightforward and timeless,” Furió additional. “What we wanted to highlight is the content, with furniture belonging to the congregation representing a number of centuries of historical past.”
Prefabricated glass-reinforced concrete panels have been selected to give the exterior surfaces of the building’s different volumes a homogenous appearance and to assist the pace of development.
Darker grey panels with an irregular ridged texture are utilized to the surfaces of the bell tower, to signify its significance and create a landmark facing the street.
The vertical rhythm of the tower’s surfaces is continued by louvred metal shutters fitted outdoors windows on some of the facades.
Supplies aid to differentiate the private areas of the monastery from the church, in which the nuns share Holy Communion with nearby residents.
Stoneware tiles utilised for flooring throughout the monastery’s main spaces are replaced in the church with glossy grey Macael marble, which adds greater tonal variation.
Glass partitions and present day pews for the congregation contrast with the conventional furnishings and religious artefacts in the area of the nave the place the nuns sit.
Paving stones also develop visual segregation amongst the public and private spaces. Grey blocks kind the surface of the parking location and approach in front of the constructing, although warmer tones are utilized for the courtyard and other locations inside the boundary walls.
Photography is by German Cabo.
Venture credits:
Architects: Pedro Hernández López – Hernández Arquitectos
Technical architect: Francisco Sánchez de Lara
Collaborators: Antonio Martínez, Ángeles Álvarez, Verónica Furió, Amparo Costa, Fernando Hernández
Engineer: Erso ingeniería civil y medioambiental SLP
Development: Grupo Bertolín SAU
Basement plan 
Ground floor prepare 
1st floor program 
2nd, third and fourth floor strategy 
Fifth floor prepare 
Roof program 
Section one 
Segment two Dezeen
