Countdown to the expansion of La Maquinista. This action of very long gestation, which brought the property, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), to the courts against the Ada Colau City Council, which opposed the project approved in 2015, at the end of the previous mayor’s term. , Xavier Trias, and which ended in an agreement in 2021, finalizes its final details before the start of construction. The first works, as company sources have explained to La Vanguardia, will begin in the second half of 2024.
The shopping center, which bears the Westfield seal in its name, the largest in Catalonia, will grow, although less than initially intended, and will have almost 600 homes. It will be the first retail complex in Barcelona with a residential area. This duality of uses is common in other European cities, but in the Catalan capital it exists only with offices, as occurs in Wesfield Glòries, also from URW, or in L’Illa Diagonal.
While waiting for the Generalitat to give the final approval, which is expected imminently, to the new planning of La Maquinista, which has already received the municipal green light, and based on the urban improvement plan already ready, URW intends to apply for a license soon. of works to excavate the site on which the expansion of the complex will be deployed. There is a surface parking lot on this land. If there are no setbacks, they point out from the property, “these first works can begin in mid or late 2024.” And, from that moment, develop for about three years at most four, so that the intervention can be finished in 2027 or at the latest in 2028.
The action, in which URW plans to invest 215 million euros – the calculation is from 2021 and will surely be short – and which is being planned by the Batlleiroig architecture firm, requires time since it involves fitting together different pieces while maintaining the activity of the project at all times. shopping center and without having to demolish buildings. The expansion includes three new underground parking floors connected to the current ones, most of them for residents. Above will be the extension of one of the levels of the shopping area until reaching Ferran Junoy. This part adds 21,000 m2 of roof and an additional 1,000 m2 for local businesses with direct access from the street. Another floor of complementary economic activity is superimposed (5,000 m2 for offices, medical centers, coworkings, gyms…). And, finally, the housing blocks, grouped into three bodies, with their communal garden areas on the roofs of the additional uses area.
The residential complex will have up to 594 homes (47,500 m2 of roof) of which 518 will be free market (41,500 m2) and 76 protected (6,000 m2). The planning plans to incorporate a plot from the next block of Ferran Junoy towards Baró de Viver – the Potosí sector –, of municipal ownership, to build 218 additional homes (17,500 m2), all of them protected, for which URW will provide financial resources. This promotion will have its own project.
The change will be seen from Ferran Junoy, where the large main façade of the complex extension with commercial ground floors and residential buildings will appear. This street, now soulless, more typical of an interurban area than a city, is destined to become an avenue with great activity. It will also border the future linear park that will go to Sagrera, which will cover the train tracks and connect the neighborhoods of Sant Andreu and Bon Pastor, which will give it greater relevance.
The project that is going to be deployed is very different from that of 2015. Not only because of the distribution of uses – there will be more housing, giving up half of the commercial meters that were going to be gained – but also because of the physical appearance that the complex will have. . The most notable thing is that instead of tall residential towers of up to 25 floors, more compact blocks of a maximum of 17 floors will be built.
“We intend to integrate the expansion into an environment that will be very different from the current one, with the large park in front that will change the connectivity throughout the area,” explains Enric Batlle, founding partner of Batlleiroig. “We see this objective – he continues – in the evolution of the approaches of the shopping center sector, which seeks to get closer to cities, to be part of them.” And this involves combining different uses and ensuring that residential uses have a relevant weight. URW also defends this mix for store sales, since they will gain a good number of neighbors who will be potential preferred customers. It is also expected that the establishments that will be located at street level, smaller than those in the shopping center and that may have their own hours, will provide a greater neighborhood character to the area. In any case, this multinational, which is developing similar projects in London and Hamburg, emphasizes that “it is about adapting to the environment, making pieces of the city,” and, they highlight, “also applying new management models, incorporating other economic activities and residential assets.”
The housing blocks will stand out for their terraces staggered at different levels and the exterior vegetation that will cover a large part of the facades. On the side facing the shopping center they will have community areas, accessible only to residents, in which greenery will also predominate, with spaces for gardens, orchards, swimming pools… The buildings will have community energy generation and consumption systems. and use of rain and gray water. The use of wood in part of the construction is also being studied. They are all elements that respond to the sustainability strategy that URW applies in its new projects.
The integration of the residential area into the Westfield La Maquinista complex is one of the challenges that Batlleiroig is working on. Six entrances have been planned to the residential properties by Ferran Junoy and a large portal from which you can access the shopping center and the level dedicated to complementary uses. There will also be a connection to the complex through an interior passage and through the two squares at each end of the street. This will change in its entirety. The distance to the road, of more than 20 meters, allows it to be converted into a parkway, the execution of which will be undertaken by URW based on the design of the same architectural office. It will have groups of trees, flower beds with vegetation, living areas, children’s games and a bike path.