This Latin sentence on the main door and under the only balcony in the building welcomes people to the Alquería Julià, a beautiful message that hints towards what visitors will find inside.
The Alquería, from the seventeenth century, is one of the few examples that has reached our days. Bankia owns this building, declared a National Artistic Monument in 1978 and Cultural Interest Site (BIC) in 2007. The Valencian entity announced in 2016 its intention to undertake this rehabilitation project to return this Alquería to the Nou Moles neighbourhood and turn it into a House of Music, within its commitment to music and the Bankia Escolta València initiative launched in 2014.
Valencian alquerías
Were farmhouses located in orchards and farms, often away from population centres and providing shelter to one or more families, in addition to having other units for the development of agricultural or storage work.
The Alquería will have the necessary equipment to become “an important musical centre of the city, in which a powerful social and cultural activity will be carried out”. These were the words of José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, president of Bankia, during the presentation of the project in July 2016.
A complex intervention full of findings gos
A little more than nine months have passed since the start of the works for the recovery of the Alquería complex in March 2019, a project that involves an investment of 3.5 million euros for Bankia and which is expected to open in the first quarter of 2020.
“We have put a lot of effort into recovering this BIC. It is an example of our commitment to completing this music project in the Valencian Community. We know that music is an element that unites the entire community, from north to south, and we know how important it is for Valencian women and men, because it entails training, culture, recovery and business. The music industry brings many benefits for the Community and we are delighted to do our part”, explains Silvia Bajo, Brand Corporate Director at Bankia. .
The works are progressing well under the lead of Carlos Campos, architect of the project. The different uses planned for the future building have brought here restoration, rehabilitation and new construction work.
“It is a complex task. It includes new construction work such as the rehearsal room, restoration work, rehabilitation work and gardening work. It is difficult to find a project where all these aspects come together and also complement each other. The building complements the garden, the garden complements the building, the new work has been added in a very discreet way, considering the difficulty of working on a BIC”, explained the architect.
Our goal is to bring life back to the building, keep the elements that the building has bequeathed us.
Carlos Campos Architect
The works combine the restoration work focused on highlighting the elements of great historical and artistic value that are still preserved, and the necessary conditioning to provide all the equipment required by the planned social and cultural activity.
The future House of Music will have a library, video library, music library, music room, different areas for cultural activities.
Internal organization
The future House of Music will have a library, video library, music library, music room, different areas for cultural activities and a large exhibition space on the first floor. The ground floor will be used to house administrative units.
External organization
the garden, which in its original design had a maze and a gazebo around which square hedges were arranged. Behind it, a terrace and an orchard with a central path lined with bushes and a pine forest, part of the Great Moyá de Campanar Pine Forest.
The new rehearsal room
The new rehearsal room will be located below the garden, accessible through an English-style courtyard in order to respect the original structure of the building. The room, about 200 sqm, will have the best soundproofing conditions thanks to double glazing.
“Every effort is being made to make it work perfectly. We plan to place all types of cladding elements on the ceiling, walls and pavement that allow perfect acoustics for rehearsal”, says the architect, Carlos Campos.
Decorative wealth
The space occupied by the Alquería -a 1,986 sqm plot- is a 16th-century agricultural complex that brings together the Mannerist and Baroque styles in its construction. The set consists of a building with two heights -692 sqm - and a tower with an additional 51 sqm accessible through a staircase.
In addition to its historical interest, the Alquería maintains aesthetic elements of great value that are going to be restored, such as domes, paintings, frescoes, paving or tiles.
“This building has an amalgam of construction on construction, mudwall, traces of intermediate slabs, masonry arches, brick arches”, says Carlos Campos.
Alquería Julià's shield
The first floor houses the living quarters of the original construction. They have undergone recovery works of their original colours, as shown by the scallops or shells on the ceiling of one of the rooms, or the heraldry elements of the Julià family, present in the decoration of the ceiling of another room.
Detail of the Veneras or Shells on the roof
"This is a decorative technique typical of the region and it was used mostly on facades; it had not been seen before on ceilings", explains the architect.
Detailing of the Engraving Technique
The Pompeian room, from the 18th century, emerged when the layers of paint began to be stripped and experts in building recovery are working tirelessly and precisely to recover it.
Detail of the reconstruction intervention in the walls
The garden
The garden will be one of the most elaborate parts of the project: "We want visitors to understand what the garden was like", says the architect.
The intention is to recreate the original design, since there was almost nothing left of it after the various transformations of the building, says Carlos Campos. It will maintain its historical components, such as the labyrinth, the rotunda and the reserved area, which contains a series of niches that used to bear images of the 12 Apostles and the image of Christ that is now on the ground floor of the building, “the workers found it when they began the work of repairing the wall. We think it could have been moved there during the war”, explains the architect. The central axis will have plant elements, garden areas on the sides and will end in a forest area at the end.
"In the background we will have the terrace, with octagonal pavement of pieces decorated in blue that we are recovering," he added.
Bankia and its commitment to music
After the project of renovation and recovery of the Alquería Julià, Bankia will transfer part of the property to the Federation of Musical Associations of the Comunidad Valenciana(FSMCV) so that they can move their activity to these renovated facilities. .
With these new headquarters, the FSMCV, with over 500 music associations, will be able to carry out the rest of its cultural activity in the building, such as the Study Centre activities, training and research work and the installation of the Federation’s archive.
The building, once restored, will also become a perfect space for corporate presentations, concerts or any other cultural activities scheduled in the future. This will benefit the Nou Moles neighbourhood and the entire city, as the restoration and the proposed uses for the Alquería are going to entail an economic and cultural revitalization of the district, since the expected level of activity will increase the service needs of all visitors.
The project aims to return this Alquería to the Nou Moles neighbourhood as part of its commitment to music and the Bankia Escolta València initiative launched in 2014.
Bankia Escolta València es un proyecto vivo, vivo como ha sido la recuperación de la Alquería, y que, además, contempla, entre otras iniciativas:
A call for scholarships for music students.
The Bankia Orchestra Contest of the Comunidad Valenciana.
The project is part of the Bankia Escolta València initiative, which also includes a call for scholarships for music students, the Bankia Orchestra Contest of the Valencian Community, the Bankia Musical Talent Awards and the heritage recovery project “Música a la Llum”.
Thanks to the measures implemented in energy efficiency, more than 2,000 MW have already been saved and 100% of the electricity consumed at Bankia is green electricity.
The efficient use of energy represents the most cost effective way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the high dependence on fossil fuel imports.
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Virginia Zafra de Llera DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION vzafra@bankia.com
