37º IAHS World Congress on Housing: - Universidad de Cantabria

XXXVII <strong>IAHS</strong><strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> on HousingOctober 26 – 29, 2010, Santander, SpainCODE: 1044VALUES OF RESTORATION OF HISTORICALRESIDENTIAL ARCHITECTURE. EL PALACIO DEEQUÍSOAIN: INTERVENTION FOR SUSTAINABILITYJoaquín Torres-Ramo, Verónica P. Quintanilla-CrespoDepartment of Construction Science, School of Architecture University of Navarra, Spaine-mail: jtorram@unav.esKey words: heritage, sustainability, 15th century architecture, restorationAbstractSeveral factors and favorable circumstances have allowed the undertaking of the restorationof el Palacio de Equísoain, a medieval building located in the Ibargoiti Valley, Navarra(Spain).Two ideas have made this restoration particularly interesting. On the one hand, the object ofthe intervention: the historical importance of the Palace and its constructive configuration, itsunique location in an isolated zone on the slopes of one of the most significant mountainssurrounding the Pamplona basin, and continued residential use from its construction in the15 th century until the 1960s. On the other hand, the owners’ concern to preserve the historicalvalues of the building and recover residential use, together with a clear environmentalinterest, which has allowed the project to be carried out from a perspective of sustainabilityboth in the building process and in the later use of the building.The restoration of this Palace is approached on a strictly methodological scientific basis. Aseries of techniques of historical and archaeological research were used, which are appropriateto the object of intervention: historical studies, dendrochronological dating, archaeology ofthe architecture, etc. All this has allowed us to obtain remarkable information and to settle onthe architectural criteria for action.A series of interdisciplinary synergies are been generated around this restoration (historians,architects, engineers, artists, etc.), together with a painstaking method which has allowed usnot only to preserve the values of the monument (historical, landscape, documentary,architectural, cultural, sentimental, etc.) but also to find new historical information, newknowledge and new values that give it contemporary cultural relevance.The above actions permitted the establishment of a series of guidelines and criteria which canbe extrapolated to other interventions, and which ratify the maintenance of the historicalvalues of the building as a guarantee of environmental sustainability37º <strong>IAHS</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Congress</strong> On Housing Science 363