Sometimes we show you some corners of the Atelier (workshop/studio) and details of hands weaving, but we have never told you the story of our workplace, and the Ball Pagès Atelier is much more than just corners and hands.
The Great Hall access to the Atelier, on the walls hang paintings by Calço, Gemma’s paternal grandfather
Our Atelier is in a small village in the interior of the Spanish province of Girona, in the heart of the Montseny; Arbúcies. Situated on the 1st floor (American 2nd floor) of what used to be the Torres Hostel, access to the workshop is through the Great Hall, which used to be the dining room. The size and proportions of this room allow us to use it as a photographer’s studio if needed, a meeting room or a showroom. Here, there are four large windows out onto the street and a small door leading to the workshop.
Let’s go through it! –
- we go through the door!
And now we’re inside! The structure is the same as it was 100 years ago, a central passage with rooms to either side. Everything has a powerful natural light. In 2014, when we started, we decided to organise it by maintaining the original structure, each phase of the process is carried out in one room; Preparation of the material and numbering of each pair, assembly, weaving, forming, painting, polishing, boxing and one room for our office.
We wanted to preserve a part of the existing furnishings, antique basins, tables, mirrors and one or two chairs. This is not a factory or a production workshop, it is a craftsman’s Atelier. You breathe in an very special air.
Can Torres has belonged to the family for more than 100 years. And this is why we decided on this place and not another, it is a place that breathes history, was managed by my great grandfather, my father and now my brother. This place has changed with the passage of the years, but its initial essence remains.
One part of the building had been empty for a few years and we decided to make it possible to build our Atelier. It seemed the perfect place! Taking into account that Arbúcies is a village with a long tradition of needlework and therefore with possibilities of finding and training artisans of great talent and quality.
My favourite place in it is, without a doubt, the “paint room”. It looks like the studio of a painter, it’s the only room in which we have kept the original hand basin and there is a large, very high table and, thanks to the blemishes and stains it has accumulated, it has become a testament to all the colours of all the different Ball Pagès espadrille collections. When the atelier is closed I spend hours testing, painting, mixing… it is a place which gives me inspiration.
The work carried out in the atelier is very transversal, there aren’t many of us and the organisation is very basic. There are only 10 crafters! They’ve been with us since the beginning and they are totally dedicated. We’ll talk about them soon.
The atmosphere in the Atelier is happy and it seems to be charged with a special energy. Long may it continue!
Puesto de trabajo
Gemma SERRA
CEO y Diseñadora de Ball Pagès
Fotos de Sara Perringerard