There were three concepts that guided the transformation of this small 16th century church in the Basque region of Spain: the history, the client and that this part of the project was just the beginning. At the start of the project, the roof had collapsed into the interior and the church was in a dire state of structural instability. The restoration was as sensitive as possible with Garmendia Cordero Arquitectos and their client agreeing that whatever comes next will be achieved “by respecting what was already there, leaving visible what is generated in the present, voluntarily and consciously facing the history of the previous building, without touching or making up the scars that show their travel almost as directly as a story would.”

Photography by Carlos Garmendia Fernández