When the Can Santacília manor house underwent its penultimate major renovation, it was in the 18th century, in an intervention that modified a 17th-century structure. However, the origin of the building dates back to the Middle Ages and it appears registered with this name in the archives of the city of Mallorca from 1576.
The majestic entrance courtyard of Can Santacília, with its flattened Santanyí stone arches, testifies to that palatial architecture that flourished in Majorca at that time, propelled by the economic boom that merchants brought to the island. Thus, in the narrow streets of the old town of Palma, large gates gave privacy to small oases open to the sky.
The cobbled pavement, with a slight inclination, collected rainwater in cisterns and wells. The stone steps led to the main floor. The charming gallery with three semicircular arches and stylized columns reminds us today of the admiration for Italian Renaissance and Baroque architecture present in the city.
The patio was already in the Mallorcan medieval house, but it was during the 17th and 18th centuries when it became more lavish. Now, after a century distorted, the magnificent entrance of Can Santacília has been recovered as the main access area to a new residential complex of fifteen houses. Well, the last great reform concluded in 2022.
The Ohlab firm, led by the architects Paloma Hernaiz and Jaime Oliver, are the architects of the reform, and they explain that they have taken advantage of the complexity of the existing historical legacy as a potential to generate unexpected spaces. So that the intervention solves each house with a distribution and individualized solutions.
The project actually addresses the union of two stately buildings, Can Santacília and Can Valero which, in addition to housing the homes, opens onto new garden terraces and community areas with an indoor pool and gym. “The result –the authors indicate- is a single building that bases its singularity on the recovery of the historical essence and on the commitment to contemporary”.
His first challenge was historical responsibility, with the investigation of the different interventions over time to discover, recover and value the main architectural elements and spaces. “We were not trying to erase and hide –they clarify- the alterations that had occurred throughout history in order to recover an ideal past that we could not know exactly. Rather, discover different stages and interventions, recognizing elements of value in each one of them.”
The magnificence of some wooden coffered ceilings prevails in space. Like the one discovered on the main floor of the Can Valero building, behind a false ceiling. It dates from the 13th-14th century and shows off an exceptional polychrome decoration with diamond motifs, shields with crosses, roses or lions with griffins. In some polychromies the conquest of Mallorca by King Jaume I is recounted, and four panels in the shape of an eight-pointed star (solomons) stand out on the roof.
They point out from Ohlab that it is a recurring motif in the coffered ceilings of formerly Jewish streets. Which makes us think that the room could have functioned as a synagogue, although it could also be a decorative motif typical of the houses of the wealthiest Jewish families of the time. The height of this room reaches around 3.5 m. However, originally the coffered ceiling covered a room with a double height of 7 m, as revealed by the base of the central column found on the lower floor, as well as other vestiges.
On this journey through the history of the building, the architects have adapted each home to the existing spaces, highlighting particular elements. One of the resources that stands out in the new intervention are the mirrored partitions, behind which are the bathrooms of the en-suite rooms. They are volumes that do not reach the ceiling and reveal old moldings or beams.
“The mirror box –the architects indicate– disappears in its reflection, restoring the space stolen by its own presence, and the complete image of the ceiling and the room”. To cover the floors of the houses, a natural oak wood flooring has been chosen, with a Hungry point quartering, a classic of the flooring in the 18th and 19th centuries in stately homes.
