SANT GERVASI – JOAN MARAGALL LIBRARY

ARCHITECTS

BCQ arquitectura barcelona

LOCATION

Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Barcelona

YEAR

2014

CLIENT

Sarrià-Sant Gervasi District. Barcelona City Council | BIMSA

AREA

Building 2.983 m² | Public space 763 m²

STATUS

Built

COLLABORATOR

Manuel Arguijo (structures), JG Ingenieros, Mercadomotika (MEP engineering), IDP Ingeniería (integrated management), Ariel Ramírez (photography)

CONTRACTOR

CONTRATAS Y OBRAS EMPRESA CONSTRUCTORA, S.A.

BUDGET

6.424.440 €

The motto with which the project was presented in the ideas competition was ‘Garden of Light’. These two words sum up the two ideas of the project: maintaining and improving the existing garden, and yet, obtain joyful and well lit spaces.
The library inserts under the garden Vil·la Florida under the shade of its trees. The new building fits under the ground like a child hides (to read a book) under a carpet. Inside, a landscape in itself, articulated and changing where each use and each user find their place. It is a personalized and unique space.

The building is particularly related to the street Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, one of the oldest and most important streets of the old core of Sant Gervasi. The unevenness between the garden and the street Sant Gervasi allows access to the new facilities naturally. On the other hand, the gardened roof is at the same level as the old garden, so that the construction of the new facility means the restoration of the garden of the civic center at its maximum dimension, where Vil·la Florida will always be the building dominating the complex.
The building is shaped by the ‘light and silence patios’ and the ‘books and knowledge patios’. The first, surrounded by glass, light and ventilate the interior while isolating the library from the street. The second ones, concrete volumes filled with books, are part of the supporting structure of the library.

FIRST PRIZE 2014 CIUTAT DE BARCELONA AWARD
FIRST PRIZE 2015 CATALUNYA CONSTRUCCIÓ AWARDS
NOMINATION 2015 MIES VAN DER ROHE AWARD
SPECIAL MENTION 2015 BEYOND BUILDING BARCELONA CONSTRUMAT AWARD
FINALIST 2015 ARCHITIZER A+ AWARDS LIBRARIES CATEGORY
FINALIST 2015 IFLA SYSTEMATIC PUBLIC LIBRARY OF THE YEAR AWARDS