An architectural and cultural space to explore
Selected by Open House Valencia 2019 as one of the 47 most significant buildings of the city, the sanahuja&partners architecture studio is a truly multifunctional space dedicated to architecture, design, culture, and art.
Opened in 2009, in the midst of an economic crisis, in the district of Russafa in Valencia, currently one of the most attractive poles in the cultural, social and artistic field, the studio celebrates 10 years of the opening.
The Valencia office offers the opportunity to rethink architecture by extending it to an interdisciplinary model, opening it up to the city with the introduction of a transverse model that includes all creative disciplines in their diversity.
The choice of the Ruzafa district could not have been more accurate. At that time, the neighborhood was a multicultural area in full effervescence, and in the last decade has become one of the most proactive areas of the city in the cultural and artistic field.
An incubator of urban festivals of all kinds, it has become a pole of social and economic attraction, of which the studio is proud to have actively participated.
The project was selected within the exhibition “Recent Architecture in Valencia 2011-12-13” by the COACV
At the entrance of the studio is the HAT GALLERY, a place dedicated to numerous research and architectural design initiatives, thanks to the open interaction with other disciplines such as interior design, industrial design, and landscape design, all closely linked to the vast professional structure of the studio.
Not only that, Hat Gallery is a place of exhibitions and workshops that have alternated over the past 10 years, including Silla Libre, the first exhibition to inaugurate the space and that involved 40 artists from different disciplines in the challenge of customizing a common chair.
Then HAT CINEMA was born, for reserved cineforums, HAT TALKS for conferences, reports on architecture and dialogue with music, theatre, and dance, HAT MUSIC, for private concerts and HAT DANCE or THEATRE, for dances and shows.
For each initiative, Hat Gallery is transformed aesthetically and architecturally into spatial experiences, in addition to those purely artistic or emotional, actively participating in the events of the Russafa district.
The offices are located on the inside, connected to the Hat Gallery by a wooden corridor that serves as a distributor of space and separates the interior from the small green courtyard.
In stark contrast to the dark part of HAT, the white colors and courtyards flood the most functional part of the studio with natural light.
On the ground floor are the workstations, the assembly area of the project and the meeting rooms.
The penthouse consists of a large, very flexible room with a library area and a documentation center for group work sessions, product presentations, and audiovisual presentations and an area dedicated to research and exchange of ideas.
The final touch to the project is a mini apartment leading to a cozy service courtyard that reflects the natural surrounding environment.
The use of courtyards as light and ventilation sources is perfect to improve the environmental conditions in which we find ourselves, increasing the energy efficiency of the building by balancing the natural resources available.
As Jaime Sanahuja, founder of the sanahuja&partners studio, says, “We were closely linked to the Russafa district, long before the real estate boom in the area. Hat Gallery was born as a response to the dynamics of the neighborhood.”
Hat Gallery was born as a response to the dynamics of the neighborhood.”
Being counted among the 47 most significant buildings of the city is the recognition that Open House Valencia wanted to pay tribute to the study sanahuja&partners for helping to redevelop and revitalize the neighborhood of Russafa.