To re-inhabit the old quarter of town, by using residential structures as dwellings again and restore their historical elements for its public enjoyment: that was the option we proposed for the intervention in Beltran de la Cueva Street at Ubeda. Not only dwellings and not only public spaces but the integration of both approaches.

All the elements with historical value in the pre-existing building stood by the ground floor: the façade, the gothic arcade, the courtyard, the arch by the old stairs, the stone cellar and the backyard with its impressive views to the Church of El Salvador. We could then locate the residential program upstairs, leaving the ground floor for its use as public premises in which it could be easier to regulate the historical elements’ preservation and maintenance. To achieve this separation of uses it was very helpful the buildings’ actual layout given that it was possible to keep the vestibule by the main door as the dwellings’ hall only by restoring its decorated joists and inserting a very light staircase in it.