Vigilance Pavilions for Heritage of Cultural Interest in Castile and León

Gaztelu Jerez Arquitectos has created two Vigilance Pavilions for Heritage of Cultural Interest in Castile and León (Spain). With a total floor area of only 13m² (140ft²) each, these low-energy prefab cabins are a pilot program that could be easily exportable.

Castile and León (Spain) is one of the regions with more cultural and natural heritage in the world, thanks to its history and its big area. Many of its Heritage of Cultural Interest (Bienes de Interés Cultural – BIC) are in natural and rural environments. Therefore, they need vigilance, as well as attention for their visitors. Lately, the Regional Government of Castile and León is becoming aware of the need to replace the current stalls located next to these BIC, with the aim of dignifying them according to those monuments and places.

These 2 pavilions are a pilot programme which could be easily exportable to other BIC in the same region. The first one is located next to the Visigothic hermitage in Quintanilla de las Viñas (Burgos), one of the few buildings of its kind existing in the Iberian Peninsula, and which was designated as a National Monument in 1929. The second one is located at the archaeological site in Arrabalde (Zamora), a place which in the past was a pre-roman hill-fort, designated as a BIC in 2006. When we revisited the Zamora Museum, a building by Tuñón and Mansilla that we admire so much, we discovered to our surprise that among its more valuable exhibits it contains the “Arrabalde’s Treasure”, for which the architects expressly designed a showcase, that is simultaneously a jewel case, inside the big jewel case that is the building itself.

— Gaztelu Jerez Arquitectos

Process of Construction and Drawings: