Escuelas Pías de San Fernando

About

The Escuelas Pías de San Fernando is a building located in Madrid, Spain. It was formerly a church that burned down during the Spanish Civil War. The ruins have been converted into a UNED university library. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1996.

The Escuelas Pías de San Fernando are located in Madrid's Lavapiés neighborhood, at the corner of Calle del Mesón de Paredes and Calle del Tribulete. The intervention to transform it into a library and lecture hall for the UNED had to take into account the urban and environmental surroundings.

The complex is just 150 meters from Ronda de Valencia, meaning it is exposed to constant vibrations from road traffic and the metro (which is less than 200 meters away). Because of this, monitoring systems had to be installed to detect cracks. Additionally, Madrid's subsoil is clay-based with high expansive capacity depending on moisture levels, so the foundations had to be reinforced during the renovation.

Madrid has a continental Mediterranean climate, with cold winters (temperatures can drop to -5 °C) and extremely hot summers (reaching up to 40 °C). This affects the stress on the building's materials, and—combined with the low humidity and high pollution levels in the area—has accelerated the degradation of materials such as Colmenar stone and the formation of black crusts on brick walls.

Moreover, the Lavapiés neighborhood intensifies the urban heat island effect, with temperatures up to 4 °C higher than in nearby green areas.

Both the school and the church of the Escuelas Pías de San Fernando originated from the Colegio de San Fernando (also known as Colegio de Lavapiés), founded in 1729. The number of students gradually increased, and in 1734, the land was granted to the Piarist Fathers, making it one of the first schools of this order in Madrid.

After this, the school underwent several expansions, with the most significant one taking place in 1763. Later, the school received financial support from kings Ferdinand VI, Charles III, and Charles IV to fund further expansions and the construction of a new church.

In 1795, Spain's first school for the deaf and mute was established here, but in 1808, the religious community was dissolved, and teaching activities ceased. In 1814, it became an educational institution for underprivileged classes.

In 1936, following the outbreak of the Civil War, the school and convent were looted and burned down. Only the ruins of the church remained standing—the facade, parts of the walls, the transept with the dome's drum, and some decorative elements. After these events, the block became fragmented, and over the next three decades, new buildings were constructed on the site, including a market, a cinema, and a nightclub.

The rest of the complex remained abandoned and in ruins for sixty years after the Civil War. During this time, minor interventions took place, such as the 1973 stabilization of the ruins in an attempt to turn the area into a landscaped square. In 1987, the Madrid City Council purchased the complex, but this only worsened its deterioration and neglect. By 1993, some of the structures were demolished, leaving only parts of the perimeter walls, the transept with the dome's drum, remnants of Baroque decoration, and the main facade.

In 1996, the site was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Heritage of Cultural Interest), though by then, it had already become a shelter for homeless people.

That same year, a competition was announced to build a concert hall in the church ruins and a sports complex on the plot across the street. However, it was later decided to use the corner of Calle Tribulete and Mesón de Paredes instead, avoiding the eviction of residents in the neighboring building and creating a unified complex with the existing ruins. Ultimately, the City Council decided to establish a library in the church and lecture halls in the remaining area. As a result, restoration work began in 1999.

The intervention at Escuelas Pías de San Fernando was shaped by various regulations to balance heritage preservation with functional needs. As a listed Cultural Heritage Site (Bien de Interés Cultural) with comprehensive structural protection, any modifications required authorization from the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage. This ensured the preservation of all 22 original window openings with their wrought-iron grilles on the main facade, while allowing steel skylights in interior courtyards under strict conditions.

The Lavapiés Special Urban Development Plan imposed key restrictions: a maximum building height of 18.5 meters, preservation of the neighborhood's characteristic "corrala" (Madrid-style tenement) typology, and mandatory retention of cultural use for the property. Additionally, the project had to comply with Spain's Technical Building Code, European accessibility standards for libraries, and international document storage regulations requiring controlled humidity levels.

The intervention process faced controversies, including a legal challenge against the glass structure in the main courtyard. However, courts approved it as a reversible intervention, setting a precedent for future heritage projects in Madrid. This judicial decision became significant for subsequent interventions in the city's historic buildings.

The Escuelas Pías were in a state of consolidated ruin, but due to years of abandonment, they had become severely deteriorated. As mentioned before, some main elements of the building still remained, including parts of the perimeter walls built with "Roman-style" brickwork, which helped them survive both the 1936 fire and over sixty years of neglect.

The transept and the drum of the dome (without the dome itself) were also preserved, allowing plenty of natural light to enter. Additionally, the facade and some remains of the original decoration were still intact.

The restoration project of the Escuelas Pías de San Fernando in Madrid was designed by the Spanish architect José Ignacio Linazasoro, together with Ricardo Sánchez. It was carried out to be compatible with the existing structure and had a strong focus on working with historical heritage.

The new construction and the ruins were integrated to form a unified whole, balancing functionality with authenticity. The project respected the historical value of the complex, the intervention also honored principles of historicity and compatibility, carrying out a restoration without any historical falsification. The design clearly distinguished between old and new elements, as well as the materials used. Remains that were taken out during the process were displayed, along with photographs, plans, and documents about the restoration work.

The intervention never aimed to reconstruct any lost elements—it only restored the ruins and transformed them into a support for new architecture, coexisting peacefully and complementarily with the old structure. The result is a complex where the preexisting brick and stone remains contrast with the concrete and wood of the new construction, maintaining and even enhancing the romantic atmosphere of the Escuelas Pías.