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 will be related particularly 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 will be at the same level as the old garden, so that the construction of the new facility will mean 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, concrete volumes filled with books, are part of the supporting structure of the library.
The functional program is developed on two levels. The basement, with three large courtyards of light and ventilation will house most of the general fund, training space, multipurpose space, and the archives. The ground floor of access is where most public place uses are: magazines area, music and image, children’s area and administration.
To link the library with the upper garden area, two volumes stand out. One is a support space of the library with direct access from the hall, located in a privileged place. The other is an entry of skylight to the children’s area.
The existing garden extends through the roof of the new library to the street of Sant Gervasi de Cassoles, where a new access to the gardens next to the entrance to the hall of the Library is planned.
One of the biggest challenges of this project has been to preserve some of the trees existing in this area of the garden: a large canary islands palm tree (Phoenix canariensis), two hackberry (Celtis australis), an eucalyptus (Eucalyptus), two limes (Tilia cordata), a horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and an ailanthus (Ailanthus altissima).
Architects Authors:
BCQ arquitectura Barcelona
DAVID BAENA, TONI CASAMOR, MARIA TALTAVULL, MANEL PERIBAÑEZ
Architects collaborators: ALEXANDRE LIBERATO, ROSER MARÍ, JORDI SÁNCHEZ, JORDI RODRÍGUEZ, VASCO MOURÃO, MIKA IITOMI (LANDSCAPING)
Client:
BARCELONA CITY COUNCIL - SARRIÀ-SANT GERVASI
BARCELONA D’INFRAESTRUCTURES MUNICIPALS – BIMSA
Construction: CONTRATAS Y OBRAS EMPRESA CONSTRUCTORA SA
Structural calculations: MANUEL ARGUIJO Y ASOCIADOS SL
M&E Engineering: JG INGENIEROS SA
Quantity surveryor: MAURICI DÍAZ, Technical Arch.
Renders: VICENTIU SOPTEREAN, JORDI RODRÍGUEZ
Construction cost without VAT: 7.645.084 €
Built area: 2.983 m2
Urban dev.area: 763 m2
Competition: June 2007 – First Place restricted competition
Design phase: March 2008 - Dec 2010
Construction: April 2011 - Work in progress
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