The restoration of the Botines building in León

Abstract

Having lost its original function, the building -magnificently built in 1891 in response to the requirements of the property for commercial purposes-lives on thanks to new needs. The article explains the transformation undergone by the building in the course of its history, mainly the rehabilitation carried out by the authors between 1992 and 1996. They review the considerations previous to the restoration and the criteria followed: they did not merely wish to limit themselves to the building's factual and formal aspect, but wanted to give it new functions, thus juxtaposing its architectural form and a representative, rational and flexible use. The work was determined by two basic premises: the programme and the building itself. In general terms, they have endeavoured to recover those original architectural elements sufficiently strong to be used structurally and as part of the overall layout, as well as being more ruthless in those areas of the building where there had been more patching up and relatively recent alterations.