The Building: history and evolution

The land, which originally consisted of two plots, was acquired by Miquel Ballester Ginard, the great-grandfather of the current owner, at the beginning of the 20th century, on his return to Campos after a few years of emigration to Argentina.

The objective was to have a plot of land for each of his two sons so that they could build a family house when they got married. As they were still very young at that time, the new owner built the façades of the ground floor level and created a large building on one of the plots. Neither of his two sons ever built a house on these plots, and this structure has survived to the present day almost exactly as the first owner left it.

Both plots were unified, and the current owner inherited them outright upon the death of his father and the donation of his mother.

The current owner, faced with humidity problems and without initially planning for a public exhibition of the collection, decided to carry out a renovation and expansion of the space.

Several options were considered: a simple intervention on the roof; an expansion on the ground floor, which could be funded with personal savings; or an expansion on both the ground and first floors, which exceeded the planned budget. Ultimately, the decision was made to commission a project from architect Jordi Oliveras, an expert in structural interventions in existing buildings, as the goal was to preserve the old walls. Once the project was drafted and quotes were obtained from various construction companies, an important decision was made: family heritage would be sold to raise more funds, enabling the addition of a second floor, optimizing the building capacity allowed on the plot.

This decision was also motivated by a more important and risky one: to attempt to open the collection to the public.

This step posed a significant challenge for the new building. It needed to comply with accessibility, fire safety, ventilation standards, and more. Furthermore, the floors had to be capable of supporting the weight of the collection’s objects.

Finally, the modified project was submitted to the town hall to obtain the necessary permits for construction and activity. After receiving the appropriate permits for partial demolition, the construction of the building began, just after the isolation period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The works were carried out by the company Construcciones Gemar.

The construction approach was chosen to minimize costs and adapt to the economic possibilities of the property. As you can see, the building has a simple exterior design, while the interior largely retains its original structure, interrupted only by partitions and display cases made of non-stone materials. This served two purposes: firstly, to maximize the available financial resources, and secondly, to create a very neutral aesthetic for the building so that the structure did not overshadow the content of the collection.

The interior finishes, as well as the covering of imperfections in the formwork, direct painting on the concrete walls, installations, etc., were mostly carried out by the owner, family members, and friends. Finally, the building was equipped with security and accessibility systems, installed by specialized companies.

Once the building was completed and the final work certificate was obtained, the antiques were moved from various warehouses.

The assembly of the collection took more than three years and was carried out exclusively by the current owner and his partner. It represented a monumental effort, surpassed only by their perseverance and excitement in making this small piece of our culture available to everyone.