This month we talked with the architect from San Jorge Jorge Ugalde to get a little deeper into the incidents that arise when facing the rehabilitation of buildings in historic centers.
We all agree that the preservation and recovery of the historic centers of cities is a right that concerns the entire society. Cities grow, transform and must be maintained, so rehabilitation processes are an obligation, in addition to a form of social, economic and historical development that must be protected by the public and private entities involved.
But at this point, we have a problem: the low culture of conservation in our country has caused a high level of architectural deterioration in our cities and towns. Recovering the built city is a right of citizens as a result of the Universal Right to Housing, but it is not an easy matter.
- In addition to the difficulties of accessibility and mobility; depopulation or lack of equipment, the main problem that historic centers offer is urban deterioration. And in the day to day, we run into professionals, such as Jorge Ugalde, who attend the rehabilitation projects and who face serious problems that they manage to solve with the help of the Rentokil Initial experts.
Jorge Ugalde began his career in the VGA studio SGA while combining his final degree studies. After several years in the company, in 2014 he decided to take the step and found his own studio in Orduña. The work was increasing and he had to move to his current office in Barria 11, where he continues to develop his professional work.
Ugalde coexists with professional challenges daily for his specialized dedication, since his work is focused on the rehabilitation of real estate and the preparation of Technical Building Inspection (ITE) reports. Its radius of action is the area of the upper Nervión, in addition to its hometown, which has a historic center protected as a monumental complex by the Basque Government.
In his career, the renovations of historic houses in Orduña stand out, in addition to the facade of the Velasco Palace in the town. One of the greatest actions consisted of comprehensive rehabilitation of a single-family home. As Uralde tells us, “it was a chalet, with a wooden structure, and had a strong attack of termites. Its demolition was valued, but finally, after many months of work, we decided on its rehabilitation ”.
The vast majority of the properties where Jorge Ugalde develops his work are 100 or 200 years old, so his condition is very defective, both in finishes and in structures. In these cases, according to Ugalde “the major pathologies are in structural deterioration due to xylophagous attacks, that is, insects that feed on wood. In these actions we have detected several foci of termites, rot fungi, anóbidos, and cerambícidos that we have discovered thanks to the collaboration of Juan Carlos Lejarreta, Rentokil Initial technician ”. From that meeting with Juan Carlos Lejarreta, the collaboration of his study with Rentokil Initial has always been satisfactory for both parties.
One of the projects he feels most proud of is the complete rehabilitation of the facade of the Velasco Palace. As Ugalde tells us, “when I was making the pathological report of the facade, he had access to a report from Lejarreta and accompanied me to visit the property. His response was so effective that I always count on Juan Carlos for the reports, in addition to always carrying out his work with speed and quality in the projects that we embark together. ”
Another remarkable factor of performance for Ugalde is to know how to listen and know the history of the building to be rehabilitated. For that reason, when dealing with traditional building rehabilitation projects “it is very important to contact the client to provide all kinds of information regarding works, repairs, breaks or past incidents. We carried out a survey of plans showing the main pathologies and several visits were made before the project was written. During these visits, the state of the structure is evaluated and if necessary, tastings are carried out in the areas that are necessary ”.
On a personal level, Ugalde enjoys one of his passions, cycling, in Orduña. He is the treasurer of the Orduñesa Cycling Society, of which Rentokil Initial is a sponsoring member. For Ugalde, “cycling helps people maintain a healthy lifestyle, in addition to fostering fundamental values such as effort, ability to suffer, dedication or companionship. In addition, cycling helps you meet different types of people, helps you avoid daily problems and is a great way to meet new places while respecting the environment. ”
From the treasury, he manages the accounts of a club that has 60 members between the ages of six and seventy-eight, so the diversity of activities they carry out is infinite. In addition, this year marks the half-century of life and to celebrate such an anniversary they have prepared a large number of activities that will take place throughout the year.