Son Bunyola Mallorca

12/05/2022

GRAS Reynés Arquitectos together with Currie&Brown lead a multidisciplinary design team to carry out the conversion of the old agricultural estate Son Bunyola into a 28-room unique retreat for Virgin Limited Edition. Son Bunyola consists of a main building, a tafona and other agricultural constructions. The main building is a square structure with a central patio and 2 towers. One of the towers is a medieval defense tower built in the 15th century, the other is the result of the 1931 reform.

© VIRGIN LIMITED EDITION

The Son Bunyola estate, sprawling over 200 hectares, is located in the municipality of Banyalbufar in the Balearic Islands and is surrounded by the Serra de Tramuntana. A unique landscape declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It is an area of high scenic and ecological value that enjoys the highest level of environmental protection. The houses of the Son Bunyola estate are not only under the landscape protection of the Serra de Tramuntana but are also registered as a Cultural Interest Asset (Bien de Interés Cultural, BIC).

This protection is mainly due to the existence of the preserved defense tower of medieval origin. No less important is the declaration by UNESCO of the entire Serra de Tramuntana, where Son Bunyola is located, as a World Heritage Site.

The houses of Son Bunyola, as we know them today, are the result of numerous changes and refurbishments throughout history.

The current reform project starts from the last reform of 1931 and intends to restore the splendor of the houses and their surroundings by transforming the old farm into a rural hotel for Virgin Limited Edition. The intention is to preserve all the historical value of the houses and to resume the agricultural and livestock activities of the estate, always with a focus on sustainability.

Son Bunyola consists of a main building, a tafona and several agricultural constructions. The main building is a square structure with a central patio bordered by arcades and 2 towers. One of the towers is the medieval defense tower already mentioned, the other is the result of a 1931 reform.

The main building houses most of the hotel, offering incredible views of the Mediterranean and the Tramuntana coastline, with the famous Sa Foradada visible from the front terrace and gardens. On the ground floor the public areas, reception, restaurant, kitchen and noble rooms, are located while the first and second floors house most of the rooms. The basement includes a small spa and service areas.

Attached to the main building is the tafona and other agricultural areas. The tafona, which houses an old oil press, is restored, recovering the historic elements in its former use, and making it accessible to the public, while the rest of the building is converted into hotel rooms. 

Between the two buildings, and taking advantage of a large historic terrace, is the swimming pool, from which there are magnificent views of the surrounding countryside and the aforementioned Sa Foradada.

© Tomeu Canyellas Photography

Despite the fact that this is an historical restoration of a listed building, where it is necessary to stick to the existing building, all possible strategies for environmental protection, sustainability and energy saving have been implemented. From high-performance thermal insulation in the walls, where possible, to high-performance air conditioning units with heat recovery. Energy for the entire complex is generated by a biomass boiler fed by the pruning waste and forest masses produced on the site itself.

Special attention has been paid to the water cycle, a scarce resource on the island of Mallorca. The hotel's drinking water comes from its own wells and from a large cistern at the foot of the mountain. In order to achieve a larger storage volume, all of the property's existing water cisterns were restored. All the rainwater that falls on the roofs and terraces is collected and stored in these cisterns, recovering the estate's original hydraulic strategy of collecting as much rainwater as possible.

Completion date: Spring 2023.

 

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