The large concrete slab that covers the parking spaces of the Sant Genís metro, on which a large block dedicated to consultations and outpatient services of the Vall d’Hebron hospital will be built, will have a second building. The Public Health Agency of Barcelona (ASPB) plans to locate its new headquarters there and already has a first proposal, the winner of the ideas competition called by the municipal company Bimsa, signed by Arquitectura Anna Noguera and Activitats Installations Architectural (AIA).
The calendar for the new headquarters of the ASPB to become a reality is still green. After the decision of the competition, the winning architectural studios are already working on the drafting of the preliminary project. Then will come the executive project, the construction budget will have to be approved, bidding, awarded and the works done. The forecast is that the works will begin during the current municipal term, which expires in 2027. The necessary investment, which is still pending, will be borne by the City Council and the Generalitat.
“For us, it’s important that public health has visibility with an emblematic building like this”, highlights the manager of the ASPB, Carme Borrell. It is a projection objective so that the work of this body, mainly focused on prevention, is better known. But there is also another internal one: the improvement of the working conditions of the 330 people it employs, concentrating in a single headquarters with 12,500 m2 the dependencies that are now spread over several buildings, and also of the efficiency of their activity.
In addition to Mercabarna, where the health control of the food sold is carried out, which will continue in this area, the ASPB is spread over three different buildings around Plaça Lesseps, and the laboratory, which is in Drassanes, next to CAS Baluard.
According to the ASPB, the winning architectural proposal of the competition stands out for the separation of the laboratory, which will be located in an independent semi-underground body, and the rest of the outbuildings, which will be in another eight-story building. Another key element is the landscaped interior courtyard that will connect all the spaces encouraging the relationship between the different departments and workers. The existence of a large terrace on the lowest body of the building that will act as a climatic shelter is also key. In addition, the complex will allow sharing spaces thanks to its versatility. Much of the design responds to the new work models implemented following the covid pandemic.
Integration in the environment is also relevant, since this place, now hard, will change radically. It will be covered by large green areas that will connect both sides of the Dalt roundabout, which in this area is expected to be covered. The architect Anna Noguerad highlights the two bodies of the building: the horizontal of the laboratory, with a base as wide as possible and that thanks to the uneven ground will have natural light, and “the cube that will float about six meters on three sides ” located on the opposite side of the future block of the Vall d’Hebron hospital, “which will act as a knee joint, will enhance this corner”.
The patio highlighted by Borrell is also important to Noguera. “It will be the most significant interior space – explains the architect -, the vegetation will enter it, it will have stairs in view and will contribute to the climate regulation of the building”, which has been thought “so that it works very well in the energy field”. He also points out the accessible roof of the lowest block, which “will be a vegetable-viewing porch over the city”. The complex will have great permeability and can be crossed on foot by connecting the Dalt roundabout with the park in the lower area. Inside, the exposed wooden floors will bring warmth to the spaces. Another element designed for the well-being of workers.
