The Navàs family wants to restore the tower

ReusOn March 26, 1938, a bomb dropped by Franco's air force fell in the heart of Reus, in the Plaça del Mercadal, damaging Casa Navàs. The projectile caused damage to the upper part of the building and toppled the turret that crowned one of Reus's most emblematic buildings, a Modernist jewel built at the beginning of the 20th century by Lluís Domènech i Montaner. Fortunately, the main floor was not affected, and during the 1940s the upper part of the building was rebuilt, but not the turret. More than eighty years later, the current owner of Casa Navàs, Maser Grup, has decided to reconstruct this distinctive feature. Work on the building began last July, but much preparation was required before the first scaffolding was erected.

Since 2023, Xavier Nualart, a building engineer and quantity surveyor with Constècnia, the company carrying out the work, has been working on the reconstruction project for the tower, originally designed by architects Joan Tous and Pau Jansà. Several artisans are involved—a stonemason, a glassmaker, and a blacksmith—as well as a company specializing in stainless steel structures. Since the start of the work, every Tuesday all the technicians involved conduct a site visit to assess its progress. Prior to this, there was a preliminary study phase to interpret and adapt the architects' project, which included a group of visits to Casa Navàs to work on the site.

They spent two years conducting design studies and 3D modeling to visualize the structure, and then all of this was implemented in the various workshops. The Torratxa is an octagonal tower, which in one section has only four sides, with a spiral staircase inside. When it is rebuilt, the building will exceed 19 meters in height from the ground and will change theskyline from the Mercadal square.

"We are starting from the base of what was there, rebuilding the tower from the bottom up, and trying to adapt some elements that persisted, that were not demolished," explains Nualart, who adds: "The most complicated thing has been the beginning in terms of adapting the structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because we had nothing but a structure, because as it was defined it didn't have a structure before, it was all one stone element."

The foundation of the tower's reconstruction is an internal stainless steel structure, a skeleton onto which the stones have been gradually tightened, with metal panels forming ribs that are screwed, welded, and adapted to the structure. "We have adapted the work to the current building code, which requires a structure that provides stability to the entire assembly," explains Nualart.

Craftspeople involved

Several artisans are involved in the project. One is the stonemason responsible for crafting the various stone elements that make up the tower. A master glassmaker from Sabadell and a workshop in Santa María de Palautordera, which handles the ironwork, are also key to the project. The rotunda that crowns the tower features wrought iron elements that converge at a kind of junction with small arches, and then the weathervane, shaped like a ship and marked with the cardinal points, begins. The artisans must collaborate closely with each other, as is the case with the stonemason and the blacksmith. A company specializing in structures has also manufactured and installed the stainless steel framework, the major innovation of the new tower, which was previously made entirely of stone and now has a metal skeleton.

The various workshops of the artisans working on the project began by collaborating with the company in charge of the stainless steel structure. This company prepared a small sample of what the tower would look like, and together with the stonemason, they made a small scale model of the structure, not in stainless steel but in regular iron, to fit the stones together.

Iron Technology

"The commission was difficult, obviously. It falls within the modernist movement, which certainly has as its most superficial, most visual aspect the decorations, the color, but behind it there is also an iron technology, which allows for the construction of these warehouses in the basement, with large lights and other less visible features," explains Tous.

The architect considers the torratxa (a type of bell tower) a very important element in the building's composition: "It's a building whose main façade faces the Plaça del Mercadal, but then the façade turns towards Carrer de Jésus. The torratxa is located at this corner, and it's an element that articulates these two façades; Navàs is an important house, a house with a turret. It was also popularly known as El Campanaret, like a bell tower that somehow connects the house to the bell tower of the Prioral Church of San Pedro, which is right here."

Tous points out that they aren't sure if the spiral staircase inside the turret was entirely made of stone or if part of it was stone and perhaps the last section was wood, because there are other examples by Domènech i Montaner with wooden staircases inside as well. However, to reconstruct it, they have made a technological adaptation to current regulations, which "are obviously demanding and provide guarantees." The torratxa is susceptible to wind damage. "If we had built it solely with stone, it wouldn't have complied with regulations. What we've done is create an entire internal structure of stainless steel, which provides rigidity and stability and guarantees its structural integrity. Externally, the stone elements are supported by this metal structure," he explains. Therefore, there is indeed a change in approach and a different technology than that used by Domènech i Montaner, although the project's aim is to make it as similar as possible to the original design.

Extensive documentation

"It's important to emphasize that we didn't have to invent anything because we had the original plans for the project, but above all, a great deal of photographic documentation. The tower was extensively photographed, with some very high-quality photos that allow us to see the details of the decorations and the overall composition. This has been crucial; without this documentation..."

The architect points out three reasons that helped them understand that rebuilding the tower was a good decision. One is the importance of the landing in the building's composition, and therefore the building cannot be understood without it, because it is this element that articulates the rotation of the facades. The second is that they had a wealth of documentation and didn't have to invent anything. And third, that the tower's disappearance wasn't due to the passage of time but rather to a bombing. He does, however, point to the complexity of integrating the surviving elements with the new ones as one of the major challenges of the reconstruction project. Work continues so that the turret can soon grace the top of Casa Navàs. It's a project requiring close coordination among all parties involved, and it's too early to set a completion date, but the Sant Pere festival in June is on the horizon. What is certain is that in a few months, Casa Navàs will look as it did during its first decades. And the Plaça del Mercadal, the heart of Reus, will never be the same.