Ludoteca, Barcelona

Project idea

The aim of the project was designing a community center for a neighborhood in Barcelona, as an educative and civic alternative to leisure activities, while carefully considering the value and the highlighting of the built context, in L'Eixample, Barcelona.

Project description

The project is located in the traditional urban fabric known as L'Eixample, Barcelona. The site consists in half a block of urban fabric and its closest neighbor is represented by a historical food market, Mercat del Ninot. Because the building of the food market had a strong public flow, I chose to continue its public influences onto the chosen site, to form a large social square, in order to enhance both the building and the function of the food market. Thus, the volume of the project was created so that it framed the food market building, together with an existing apartment building and that it created a central perspective towards the markets posterior facade. The project can be divided into three components. The first one is the white concrete volume, that balances the composition together with the existing apartment building. It contains all of the formative areas of the community center, such as the main lobby, an event hall, and three stories that hosed workshops, classrooms, music rooms and dance or physical activities rooms. The second one is represented by the existing apartment building. It provided an unoccupied ground floor and mezanine level, that were available for renting. The project converted the free space into a co-working space for offices, featuring lounging places and a coffee at ground floor, to enhance the functional flow between the inside and the outside space.
The third and last part is the most important and it is situated underneath the ground floor level, between the two built volumes on the surface. It mainly functions as a library, but it also provides flexible spaces that can be used either by individuals or groups as multi-purpose cells. These cells also represent the structural cores of the library and were designed so that space would flow freely between them. The positioning of the library allows the full enhancement of the food market. The connection between the library and the public square above is eased through large interior courtyards, a monumental staircase and two elevators. Skylights are placed on top of each underground structural core and emerge as urban furniture on the public square level.

Technical information

The site is located n Provenca street, in Barcelona, intersecting Mallorca and Villaroel street.