El Priorato is a restoration of a 16th-century clergy house into new holiday home by Atienza Maure Arquitectos located in Trespaderne, Spain.
A large house in the Castilian region has been restored and contrasted with new, white concrete elements by the addition of a structure that duplicates and completes the original, which was destroyed in a fire that only damaged its stone walls.
"Unfortunately no one seems to have photos of the interiors before the structure collapsed, so we had to gather the information almost like at an archaeological site," Atienza Maure Arquitectos co-founder Alonso Atienza
Due to the building's steeply sloping site, the ground floor was formerly a darker basement level used for storage, which informed the practice's approach of introducing as much natural light as possible.
"Everything revolves around the attempt to introduce light into the rooms and on the ground floor, as in John Soane's house museum or in the Rascainfiernos of Fernando Higueras," said Atienza.
