The town of Fuentes is nestled in the Sevillian countryside, in the Guadalquivir valley. Settlements from different periods have left a rich cultural and monumental heritage, further enhanced by its landscape and agricultural history. Within the Program for the Refurbishment of Architectural Heritage, the project to renovate and extend the town hall building involves working on a group of constructions and empty sites in the old town.

The project completes the new program by connecting the historic building from the 18th century – designed by Ventura Rodríguez – with another more recent one containing municipal services by means of a new volume that frames the new public access to the complex, and that wraps up the block facing the street in a hermetic manner, without windows to hint at the public program it contains. In contrast to this massiveness, the building is subtly staggered in section as it rises.

The layout of the program is expressed clearly. Behind the new entrance, a reception area is connected to the new open public space that acts as an extension of the narrow street of access. This emptying would allow recovering the rear facade of the historic building and its original freestanding condition. While this public ground level adjusts the relationship between the different floors and the street by connecting the routes within the whole complex, the upper floor is a workspace linked to the administration area on one side and to the technical area on the other. The impact on the historic building is minimized thanks to a sequence of patios and a double height that maintains the contact between them.

To stress the open and public character of the building, the roofs are transformed into walkable spaces, linking up with the tradition of the bell towers and the viewpoints in the villa to maintain the relationship between the town and the agricultural landscape.

The project tries to recover the sober and austere character of the original building, spatial, and material solutions, establishing a bridge of union between present and past. For instance, the natural lime mortar renderings include seeds and plants on the facades, evoking the historic relationship of the town with crops and agriculture. Natural stones, woods, noble metals, and a traditional treatment of the vegetation complete and herald the public and open character of the institution.