Academic industrial architecture building built in the late nineteenth century (1890) and rebuilt in the years 1997-2000 / 2000-2002. At the moment it lodges the Municipal Conservatory of Music but in its origins it was used like factory.

The building is located in Montserrat Square, next to the church and the new courts.

Type / Elements

Industrial building with three facades in the street, with a square floor plan with low and 4 stories high. Main staircase with lift located on a vertex where a toaster rises. The four facades are the same, with the composition of large openings according to orthogonal axes. End with cornice with tortoise. Original interior formed of large spaces supported by iron columns with high ceilings. The first sample in Manresa of the English industrial typology, characterized by the very regular repetition of openings and a vertical development, is considered. The facades are symmetrical, with large windows that allow for interior lighting. The walls of the factory are large windows that allow the interior lighting. The walls of the factory are worked with stone and plastered forming strips. The windows are decorated with plastered brick, with a decorative function, but very austere. Picked up on the original carpentry. The plant is diaphanous, with a vertical access nucleus, which clearly stands out from the tower-shaped building. The structure is of foundry pillars and metal beams.

Between 1997 and 1998 the structure of the building was consolidated, replacing the roof and recovering the façade. Later the building was adapted to the new functions, taking into account the acoustic insulation factor, placing special glass and carpentry materials to avoid the maximum sound communication. In spite of the changes, the building maintains its industrial esthetics and, thanks to the demolition of several nearby buildings, it has gained much presence and beauty. It is a magnificent example of the type of industrial building called "flooring factory", which is typical of urban and materialized contexts, as mentioned above, under these canons: with exterior walls of brick, interior pillars of forge, beams of Iron and slabs with wooden beams and revoltons. Aesthetically, this industrial architecture adopts a neoclassical, academic and European language, which stands out due to the symmetry of facades wound up by a large number of windows.

Authorship

Pere Samsó i Heras, architect / Eduard Fenoy, Architects / Anton Baraut, Cesc

Conservation state

Outside: Good

Facades: Well preserved, recently refurbished

Covers: Well preserved, recently refurbished

Openings: Well preserved, recently refurbished

Gardens / surroundings: Good

Inside: good