Cal Guerxo

Project

267966

Status

Submitted

Award category

You want to submit

NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS AWARDS : existing completed examples

Project title

Cal Guerxo

Full project title

Description

The aim of Cal Guerxo, a renovation project of a medieval home is to transform how we think about every single act of design and construction as an opportunity to positively impact the greater community of life and the cultural fabric of our human communities in a beautiful way. Cal Guerxo raises the bar from a paradigm of doing less harm to one in which we view our role as a steward and co-creator of a true sustainable future

Where was your project implemented in the EU?

When was your project implemented?

Has your project benefited from EU programmes or funds?

Which programme(s) or fund(s)? Provide the name of the programme(s)/fund(s), the strand/action line as relevant and the year.

Please provide a summary of your project

Cal Guerxo, secreted away in the Spanish Pyrenees, 3 hours from Barcelona and 100 kilometers from the French border, an ambitious renovation has brought a medieval residence to life to become an inspiration representing the new culture regarding the places we inhabit and our relationship with the natural environment. Cal Guerxo blends a half millennium of history with the new sustainable culture we need to guide the future of our built environment. Our aim was to create a home that functions as elegantly and efficiently as a flower, informed by the characteristics of its bioregion, capturing all of its water and energy from the sky while operating efficiently for maximum beauty. The renovation of Cal Guerxo dramatically raises the bar from a paradigm of doing less harm to one in which we view our role as a steward and co-creator of a true sustainable future. We applied the most advanced measures of sustainability in the built environment today. The aim of our project is to transform how we think about every single act of design and construction as an opportunity to positively impact the greater community of life and the cultural fabric of our human communities in a beautiful way. The result is a place with greater biodiversity where nature invites us to collaborate. A home as an expression of beauty providing a deeper understanding of climate, culture and place. A place where we re-align our food and transportation systems. A place where soil health increases and where one develops a more profound sense of what it means to be a citizen of a plant where resources have to be cared for and where opportunities provided should be shared fairly and equitably. Cal Guerxo is a call for action in support for a new narrative of interconnection to restore our fractured relationships with ourselves, our communities and nature. This project is intended to be a role model for society for redefining the future of the built environment.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met

When we started this project, we wanted to move beyond a merely less bad version of the homes we currently build and we asked a simple and profound question: what does good really look like? How can our design and construction process result in a better place with greater biodiversity and social equity, an expression of beauty, a deeper understanding of climate, culture and place? How do we re-align our food and transportation systems. How do we increase the health of the soil and our own health? How do we develop a more profound sense of what it means to be a citizen of this planet? This resulted in the following key sustainable objectives and outcomes: - The project respects the vernacular architecture while at the same time proofing for the future crises our society faces. Net positivity ensures no negative environmental impact. Connection with nature through biophilic design and permaculture design principles form the ideological core of the project. - The land has been restored intentionally to create spaces to connect intimately with nature: tend gardens, harvest food, enjoy a sauna ritual, plunge in an organic pool and stimulate biodiversity. - Straight lines are minimized in favor of round ones; wood, clay, straw, stone, sand and clay are the main materials creating warm textures. The organic forms and materials render a peaceful grounded atmosphere and a positive, vital life energy. - Passive solar is used for heating while active solar energy captured with a rooftop PV array creates an energy surplus. - Rainwater is the only source for water. We closed the hydrologic cycle, live generously consuming 44 liters per person per day. All effluent is filtered by a constructed wetland and returned to the land, watering fruit trees and vegetables along the way. - The total carbon footprint for the renovation was reduced to 2,000 kg CO2E by reusing as much on-site material as possible.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these have been met

The Cal Guerxo project recognizes the need for beauty and the connection to nature as a precursor to caring enough to preserve, conserve, and serve the greater good. As a society, we are often surrounded by ugly and inhumane physical environments. The key to creating beautiful buildings is to embrace a biophilic design process that emphasizes that people and nature are connected and the connection to place, climate, culture and community is crucial to creating a beautiful building. The aesthetics of the project are inspired by the beauty of nature. The use of natural materials such as wood, stone, clay, straw, lime and sand create a grounded earth energy which strongly impacts those staying at Cal Guerxo. . The outdoor spaces consist of a mixed mosaic of spaces integrating the beauty of the surrounding landscape through the use of natural materials such as wood and stone in combination with a large variety of vegetation that invites a large number of non-human living beings to share this place. The presence of a living organic pool (including a frog-staircase), an outdoor sauna and a fire-circle allows for shared outdoor experiences of beauty and wellbeing, while a series of secluded spaces allow for reading or contemplating while smelling aromatic plants, watch butterflies and dragonflies and listen to the serenades of the rossignol bird. Cal Guerxo includes a number of design features intended for human delight only. The rainwater, prior to entering the water tanks runs inside a canal in the kitchen floor filled with local river stones leading to a deeper connection with water on rainy days. The sunspace provides large windows on the south-west side corner of the house, elevating the connection with the surrounding mountains to a spiritual experience of beauty.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion and how these have been met

Cal Guerxo makes its experience of beauty and the deeper connection with nature in our homes accessible to young people that may not have the financial means to learn this through paid courses. We provide learning opportunities through a concept of purposeful volunteering. Besides providing food and lodging, we engage with volunteers through workshops on truly sustainable development. Over the last 12 months we hosted 24 volunteers, aged between 19 and 35 years, who stayed between 1 and 3 months during which we hold regular workshops where we apply sustainable thinking to their personal projects helping with their mindset needed to develop their future projects in a true sustainable way and by providing them with frameworks allowing them to take their projects to a more conscious level. Through their experience at Cal Guerxo, they develop an active agency with a clearer purpose about what they can do to make a positive contribution to the world through their individual projects. Each of the volunteers was asked to reflect on what they had learned and how their experience was during their stay at Cal Guerxo. Below are some extracts from what they wrote showing that the impact: “The weekly sessions on positive thinking and design are insightful and bring new perspectives. There was so much to learn and one month was not long enough to take it all in!” “It was an absolutely wonderful month. Everything that I experienced and learnt is going to shape how I move forward in life.” “The level of my vital energy with which I have felt all these weeks has been spectacular” “I am very happy to have come to this magical place, everything is wonderful! This volunteering leaves me with a lot of knowledge, the importance of nature in our lives, the way to adapt to it without causing harm, a sustainable and regenerative lifestyle.”

Please give information on the results/impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for

Starting the design of a place from a different mindset is usually not part of the mainstream practice. We started the design by including a facilitated exploration and discovery phase. During this phase we asked ourselves the question: “Instead of a world that is merely a less bad version of the one we currently have, what does good design look like?” We observed how nature behaves in this place and how we could establish a mutually beneficial relationship with nature. We also explored how the project could make a meaningful contribution beyond its project boundaries. As a result of this exploration, we designed and built a home that is innovative by functioning as elegantly and efficiently as a flower, informed by the characteristics of the bioregion, capturing all of its water and energy from the sky while operating efficiently for maximum beauty. In mainstream practices we tend to focus on the tools and technology we need to design and build. By applying a design process which explores our beliefs and mindset and allows us to align our worldviews among participants in design, we were able to design a different, innovative process for the creation of this project. Once the mindsets are aligned and the process principles have been designed, both tools and technology can be incorporated purposefully. This process is referred to as Regenerative Design and by applying this process to the development of this home, we dramatically raise the bar from a paradigm of doing less harm to one in which we view our role as a steward and co-creator of a true sustainable future. The technologies and tools used were appropriate for the purpose of the project and for the environment. It is our belief that money, technology and tools are not the issue. They exist. It is the mindset from which we work and the process we apply that will allow us to create beautiful, sustainable and inclusive spaces. Cal Guerxo is a call for action to start designing and building differently

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project

From the start, the intention of the Cal Guerxo project was to make a contribution to civil society by providing an inspiration and sharing the outcomes of the project. Being an inspiration to others so the design and construction solutions can be implemented in other projects is where the real purpose lies. This is being achieved in a variety of ways: - Cal Guerxo is a host for purposeful volunteering. This program allows young people from all over the world to learn how to find ways to make a positive contribution to society and nature. These volunteers stay between 1 and 3 months and they learn hands-on design and construction skills as well as design solutions and strategies for making homes net-positive. Cal Guerxo can host up to 12 people comfortable and intends to continue to provide these opportunities for others in the future. The reactions we received from volunteers clearly show that their stay has impacted them deeply and will allow them to become agents of change. - We provided an online webinar about Cal Guerxo in February last year to which over 900 people registered. During this webinar we shared the net positive outcomes of Cal Guerxo and shared the solutions we applied. We plan on continuing providing online webinars including a variety of topics related to designing and building for net positive carbon, water, energy and biodiversity. Many participants have provided feedback on how this inspires them to start working from a paradigm that focuses on making positive contributions instead of merely reducing negative impacts. - We also organize regular open house days in collaboration with local organizations. We have worked with a local school to educate children on positive design and invited local people for guided tours. We plan on continuing and expanding these experiences to reach as many people as possible so that the work we have done can be multiplied and together we can create the new culture of interconnection.

Please highlight the innovative character of the project

Starting the design of a place from a different mindset is usually not part of the mainstream practice. We started the design by including a facilitated exploration and discovery phase. During this phase we asked ourselves the question: “Instead of a world that is merely a less bad version of the one we currently have, what does good design look like?” We observed how nature behaves in this place and how we could establish a mutually beneficial relationship with nature. We also explored how the project could make a meaningful contribution beyond its project boundaries. As a result of this exploration, we designed and built a home that is innovative by functioning as elegantly and efficiently as a flower, informed by the characteristics of the bioregion, capturing all of its water and energy from the sky while operating efficiently for maximum beauty. In mainstream practices we tend to focus on the tools and technology we need to design and build. By applying a design process which explores our beliefs and mindset and allows us to align our worldviews among participants in design, we were able to design a different, innovative process for the creation of this project. Once the mindsets are aligned and the process principles have been designed, both tools and technology can be incorporated purposefully.  This process is referred to as Regenerative Design and by applying this process to the development of this home, we dramatically raise the bar from a paradigm of doing less harm to one in which we view our role as a steward and co-creator of a true sustainable future. The technologies and tools used were appropriate for the purpose of the project and for the environment.

Please explain how the project led to results or learnings which could be transferred to other interested parties

Cal Guerxo has demonstrated net positive results during a 12-month performance period. This performance period shows that a home can produce more energy on an annual basis then it consumes. It also shows that we can live comfortable while not consuming more than 50 liters of water per day and all this water can be supplied. Cal Guerxo demonstrated that we can live healthier and be happier in a place where we collaborate with nature. Cal Guerxo demonstrates that we can live spending less money while producing more for our own and for nature´s health. Each home needs to be adapted to its place but the principles we applied to design can be clearly communicated to others. We are developing online workshops to engage with others on how the regenerative design process works so others can incorporate it in their work. This includes an understanding of living systems thinking and an understanding of Regenerative Development through the introduction to a practical, systemic approach. This approach is based on the work of the Regenesis Group, a coalition of experienced design, land-use, planning, business and development professionals who focus on regenerative design and development. The frameworks we used at Cal Guerxo are based on the premise that humans are but a part of a larger whole, and projects are not end products, but the beginning of a process that brings an ecosystem together. The workshops will provide a clear way to communicate this design method and its principles.

Is an evaluation report or any relevant independent evaluation source available?

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed project has not been proposed for the Awards more than once under the same category and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.