![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Facade, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/bef3/e58e/cee7/e100/08aa/newsletter/151020_Lapuerta_el_soto_007-R.jpg?1454554851)
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Architects: José María de Lapuerta, Paloma Campo
- Area: 1800 m²
- Year: 2015
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Photographs:Miguel de Guzmán
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Facade, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/bef3/e58e/cee7/e100/08aa/newsletter/151020_Lapuerta_el_soto_007-R.jpg?1454554851)
Text description provided by the architects. In "El Soto" we had to reinvent the commission.
Initially, the task was to develop a basic project, already approved by the City to renew an existing Cultural Centre, which was a focus of activity and tradition in the neighborhood. The challenge was to get as much as possible, with a very limited budget in times of austerity, and with the premise of preserving the existing building.
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Facade, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/bf1b/e58e/cee7/e100/08ab/newsletter/151020_Lapuerta_el_soto_010-R.jpg?1454554889)
Constant dialogue with the various representatives of the City Council has helped achieve exemplary acceptance and involvement of each of them with the operation from the very beginning.
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Image 9 of 19](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/c063/e58e/cee7/e100/08b0/newsletter/3-plantabaja.jpg?1454555222)
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Image 18 of 19](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/c02f/e58e/cefa/d300/07f3/newsletter/1-Croquis_acceso.jpg?1454555167)
Covering the existing building, and using the preexisting foundation and structure, the transformation begins there:
The old white brick facade is dressed up with an industrial metal, disappearing into the grey sky and also camouflaged with the existing painted cover.
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Glass](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/bf3a/e58e/cefa/d300/07f1/medium_jpg/151020_Lapuerta_el_soto_015-R2.jpg?1454554912)
A skylight of polycarbonate in the heart of the building bringing light on the hall disappears and appears as a surprising northern light entrance when entering the exhibition.
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Chair](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/bf85/e58e/cee7/e100/08ad/newsletter/151020_Lapuerta_el_soto_033.jpg?1454554996)
The existing theater (an Italian-type room with fixed seats, as other dozen standing in Mostoles) becomes a multi-scenic avant-garde room that allows for the assembly of an experimental space where the stage can be placed anywhere in the room, and where retractable bleacher-seats are collected and disappear if requested, leaving an open room.
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Image 19 of 19](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/c041/e58e/cee7/e100/08af/newsletter/1-Croquis_axono.jpg?1454555186)
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Image 11 of 19](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/c075/e58e/cefa/d300/07f5/newsletter/4-plantaalta.jpg?1454555239)
Finally, three new pieces of black brick (with a lock that makes it appear as another material) holds the extension of the library, cafeteria and theater storage. These pieces face the street creating a new public space.
![Cultural Center 'El Soto' Renovation / José María de Lapuerta + Paloma Campo - Windows, Handrail](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/56b2/bf54/e58e/cee7/e100/08ac/newsletter/151020_Lapuerta_el_soto_027-R.jpg?1454554944)
In addition to a brand new building, Mostoles has this new small yellow paved square, which connects the multi-scene theater to the external events and leads the way from the street to the building entrance, flanked by a light plane and the velvet of the cafeteria.