See How this Architect Turned an Old Cement Factory into a Luxury Home
This architect turned an old cement factory into a luxury home and it only took him 45 years to do so!
Don’t agree with us that Ricardo Bofill did an amazing job turning an old cement factory into a modern home?
Among the years here at Alux, we’ve seen some of the most amazing home transformations, but nothing quite like this one.
All it took for this cement factory to become one of the best homes we’ve ever seen is the dedication and hard work the architect Ricardo Bofill had.
It all started in 1973, when Mr. Bofill run into an old, abandoned, run-down cement factory near Barcelona. But he did not react the way that most of us would, he stopped for a second an imagined how the cement factory would look like if it were a luxury home.
By looking at the factory, the architect saw potential and he wasn’t wrong. He brought his team and bought the factory with the idea of only repairing it at first.
The building was a World War One era factory that had closed down and been abandoned for years, so it definitely wasn’t habitable.
But he did not give up; he and his team dedicated themselves to turning it into something stunning, without completely tearing down the factory.
The first and a half year he spent it deconstructing the space, breaking down layers of the building to repair the walls and turn the rooms into living rooms, libraries, bedrooms and an architecture studio. Exactly what he needed to live there.
He split the building into four areas, an architectural studio, an exhibition hall, a living area and gardens.
Named it “La Fabrica” and soon you could just see it taking shape, becoming a space where he could live, work, and relax.
He still views the place as an ongoing project, which will continue to grow and change over the years.
The property features 2.5 miles of underground tunnels, a smoke stack, giant rooms, and industrial chimneys now covered in greenery.
‘Presently I live and work here better than anywhere else. It is for me the only place where I can concentrate and associate ideas in the most abstract manner.
I have the impression of living in a precinct, in a closed universe which protects me from the outside and everyday life.
The Cement Factory is a place of work par excellence. Life goes on here in a continuous sequence, with very little difference between work and leisure,’ says Ricardo.
Do you think that he did it right? What would you have done differently?
