Santpedor is a small village of approximately 7,000 inhabitants within Barcelona administrative region, a few km to the north of Manresa. Its recently inaugurated auditorium is located within the shell of a previously extensive convent and church built by the Franciscans during the early 18th Century. When religious lands were confiscated by Mendizábal in 1835 the church was deconsecrated and its slow decline began, in 1979 a hail storm damaged the roof and since then the convent itself was demolished in order to build a secondary school. The church was subsequently used as a school, an abattoir and dumping ground for old cars. The project for the provision of a cultural venue and historical archive was conceived by local villagers who held an architectural competition in order to come up with ways of preserving the old church and converting the building into a vibrant element of the community once again.