{"id":63388,"date":"2026-04-30T15:37:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/los-arquitectos-de-minima-convierten-una-cabana-pasiega-abandonada-en-un-manifiesto-de-su-arquitectura-y-destino-de-retiro\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:11:08","slug":"the-architects-of-minima-transform-an-abandoned-shepherds-hut-in-cantabria-into-a-manifesto-of-their-architecture-and-a-retreat-destination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/the-architects-of-minima-transform-an-abandoned-shepherds-hut-in-cantabria-into-a-manifesto-of-their-architecture-and-a-retreat-destination\/","title":{"rendered":"The architects of M\u00ednima transform an abandoned shepherd’s hut in Cantabria into a manifesto of their architecture and a place for temporary stays"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most architecture projects are born of a commission; this one, however, was born of a desire. More than twenty years ago, architect Helena Aguilar came across an old stone hut in ruins in the Valles Pasiegos of Cantabria and decided to keep it. There was no client, no brief, no reason other than the bond that a place can create. Over time, together with Juan Ram\u00f3n Crist\u00f3bal, her partner and fellow architect, that bond became a project: the rehabilitation of the hut as their own home, as a laboratory for their convictions and, finally, as a space open to whoever might wish to inhabit it..<\/p>\n\n

The Cantabrian shepherd’s hut is a typology deeply rooted in the semi-transhumant way of life of the region since the sixteenth century. Its logic was strictly functional: the ground floor housed the livestock, whose warmth helped heat the dwelling above, reached from the outside via a stone staircase that still stands today. The dry-stone walls, nearly eighty centimetres thick, were a response to the conditions of a territory of high rainfall, situated on the foothills of the Cantabrian mountains, little more than fifty kilometres from the sea. That thickness, which originally seeped with damp on all sides, would paradoxically become the project’s primary resource.<\/p>\n\n\n

The original volume is preserved<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The central decision of M\u00ednima<\/a>‘s intervention was not to touch the fa\u00e7ade. The original volume remains intact, with its pitched roof, dry-stone masonry and exterior staircase. The transformation happens inward, through what the architects call a second skin: an interior envelope built in layers over the existing walls \u2014 organic insulation membrane, ceramic brick and unpainted lime render \u2014 which turns the stone mass into the thermal heart of the building. The floor slab and roof are insulated with high-performance materials, and the new joinery, timber-framed with passive triple glazing and argon gas, maintains visual continuity with the landscape without compromising the airtightness of the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n

The system is completed by a mechanical heat recovery ventilation unit \u2014 Orkli Pkom 4 \u2014 and an integrated heat pump that cover heating and hot water demand. On the coldest days, a wood-burning stove provides occasional supplementary heat. In summer, the thermal inertia of the stone walls does the work. The result is an energy demand so low that it can be met entirely by the power generated by a small hydroelectric turbine in the nearby river. The whole achieves EnerPHit certification from the Passivhaus Institute<\/a> \u2014 the most demanding standard for retrofit projects \u2014 without any of this being perceptible from the outside or interfering with the interior experience of the space. The technology remains invisible; what one perceives is the silence of a place where time seems to have stopped.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"
@Estudio M\u00ednima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
@Estudio M\u00ednima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The ground floor transformed into the daytime living area<\/h2>\n\n\n

The layout respects the original logic of the hut. The ground floor, formerly given over to livestock, becomes the main living space: kitchen, dining area and sitting room arranged in a single continuous sequence where natural light enters through the new openings. Adjacent to this level, the old exterior enclosure \u2014 a semi-enclosed space bounded by large stone walls that had served as a midden and was covered in vegetation \u2014 is rehabilitated as a courtyard. The floor is paved with the original slabs from the stable, some still bearing the grooves cut to ease their maintenance, carrying the material memory of the former space into its new domestic condition.<\/p>\n\n\n

On the upper floor, two bedrooms clad in oak offer a contained atmosphere in which proportion, materiality and light work with precision. The furniture \u2014 dining table, coffee table, bedside tables \u2014 was designed by the studio itself and made from the original structural beams of the hut, adding another layer of continuity between what was and what is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The structural oak of the roof becomes a surface for work and for rest; the lime mortar that covers the floors reappears in the horizontal plane of the coffee table. These are discreet correspondences, not decorative gestures, and their effect is that of a space that feels long inhabited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

This hut has ceased to be a ruin and become something else: a living witness to an ancient history, still present for the enjoyment of those who know how to value it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"
@Estudio M\u00ednima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Casa M\u00ednima functions today as a home and as a tourist accommodation for up to six people. That dual condition is an extension of the studio’s philosophy: the house exists to be lived in, and those who stay there temporarily can experience first-hand what M\u00ednima proposes before embarking on a project of their own. It is a form of demonstration that only works if the architecture is honest enough to stand without explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n

In the Valles Pasiegos, where mist rises slowly from the valley floors and stone has been accumulating centuries of damp, this hut has ceased to be a ruin and become something else: a living witness to an ancient history, still present for the enjoyment of those who know how to value it.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Project<\/strong>: Casa M\u00ednima. Rehabilitation of a traditional Cantabrian shepherd’s hut.
Location<\/strong>: Valles Pasiegos, Cantabria.
Completion<\/strong>: 2025
Certification<\/strong>: EnerPHit (Passivhaus Institute).
Architects<\/strong>: Estudio M\u00ednima<\/a> \u2014 Helena Aguilar y Juan Ram\u00f3n Crist\u00f3bal.
Area<\/strong>: 160 m\u00b2. 2 floors.
Photography<\/strong>: Biderbost Photo<\/a>, xcept those credited to @Estudio M\u00ednima.<\/p>\n\n\n

Construction system<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Structure:<\/strong> Existing stone masonry walls and timber roof structure. Envelope:<\/strong> High-performance interior skin: 80 cm stone wall + organic insulation membrane + brick + lime render. Joinery:<\/strong> High-performance timber windows, passive triple glazing. Ventilation:<\/strong> Mechanical heat recovery ventilation \u2014 Orkli PKOM 4. Climate control:<\/strong> Integrated heat pump + auxiliary wood-burning stove. Main materials:<\/strong> Stone, lime mortar, oak, ceramic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furniture<\/h2>\n\n\n

Dining table:<\/strong>\u00a0Reclaimed solid oak \u2014 Estudio M\u00ednima design. Made from the original structural beams of the hut.\u00a0Coffee table:<\/strong>\u00a0Reclaimed solid oak with lime mortar surface \u2014 Estudio M\u00ednima design. The horizontal surface reproduces the same lime mortar used on the floor.\u00a0Bathroom tables and bedside tables:<\/strong>\u00a0Reclaimed solid oak \u2014 Estudio M\u00ednima design. Unique pieces made from the building’s original structural timber.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"
Helena Aguilar y Juan Ram\u00f3n Crist\u00f3bal, arquitectos fundadores de M\u00ednima.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

M\u00ednima<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Helena Aguilar and Juan Ram\u00f3n Crist\u00f3bal trained as architects at the Escuela T\u00e9cnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid (ETSAM), where both graduated around the year 2000. Their early professional years were spent in the competitive world of large public architecture competitions, a demanding environment that brought them recognition in Spain and abroad, but one that would prove too relentless as their family grew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was that moment of personal inflection that led them to reorient their practice. They chose to specialise in ecological and energy-efficient architecture \u2014 a discipline then little developed in Spain \u2014 through specific training in Switzerland, where Helena deepened her knowledge of the Minergie standard and both became certified Passivhaus Designers. On their return, they settled in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, in a natural setting they consider inseparable from their working values. There they founded M\u00ednima.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The studio was born from the conviction that sustainability is not a label but an ethical position, and that the architect’s craft can \u2014 and must \u2014 contribute actively to a more coherent way of life. M\u00ednima defines itself as an activist within the profession, and that stance is present in every project decision. Its approach rests on five pillars: bioclimatic design that draws on the conditions of place, energy efficiency oriented towards autonomy, low environmental impact in the choice of materials, bioconstruction criteria to ensure a healthy interior environment, and a commitment to essentiality that recalls Br\u00e2ncusi’s dictum \u2014 simplicity as complexity resolved \u2014 and that gives the studio its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helena brings to the work a strong analytical capacity and a research trajectory that began with a four-year grant during which she visited several European universities; it was in that period that her early interest in ecological architecture took root. Juan Ram\u00f3n combines technical rigour with the ability to build trust and cohesion among all the agents involved in a project, from the design phase through to construction management. Partners in both their personal and professional lives, they work together and offer their clients a close, personalised relationship that sets their scale apart from that of larger practices.<\/p>\n\n\n

To make their philosophy tangible, they have opened Casa M\u00ednima as a demonstration space: a place to stay where prospective clients can experience first-hand what the studio proposes before committing to a project of their own. It is a gesture consistent with their way of understanding the work: as accompaniment and as a choice of life.<\/p>\n\n

\n

M\u00ednima<\/strong>
San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid)
+34 91 8324432
estudio@minima.bio
www.minima.bio<\/a>
@minima.bio<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Helena Aguilar and Juan Ram\u00f3n Crist\u00f3bal show us the object of their dreams: their shepherd’s hut in Cantabria, transformed into a contemporary Passivhaus-certified dwelling. A built reflection on permanence, memory and sustainability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[624],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[296],"class_list":["post-63388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture"],"authors":[{"term_id":296,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"andres-moratinos","display_name":"Andr\u00e9s Moratinos","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63388"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63407,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63388\/revisions\/63407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63388"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=63388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}