The proposal is sensitive to the urban and historical reality that surrounds it, and takes as guidelines the patterns given by the traces of the site. The old Mossen Bosch door is recovered, providing an access plaza to the new institutional building, which is formalized as a porch and opened to the territory. The new public space becomes the point of convergence of the main pedestrian flows of the streets that surround the intervention, and which bring citizens coming from all directions to the new equipment.

The existing topography allows the building to meet with the city at different levels. The plinth of the building houses the most public part of the program, which unfolds on all these levels, weaving and allowing its relationship with the environment.

The proposal recognizes and values the ​​historic buildings, in a game of proximity, respect and counterpoint between new elements and heritage.

The new plaza is integrated into the urban fabric, inheriting dimensions and geometries from the environment. The extension finds its volumetric formalization in the morphology of the old nucleus, imitating the alignments and setbacks that characterize it. The dead end street that now generates the setback of the building with respect to the Baixada de la Seu is resolved by integrating it into the urban fabric.

The voids

The building spins around two courtyards located in the center of the block. The old walls, originally conceived as partition walls, now become protagonistic elements, new windows are opened and their texture is brought out. The entire program is organized around these two voids, grouped under criteria of functionality and comfort requirements.

Intervention criteria on the existing building

The interventions on the buildings are done with the utmost respect for the original construction systems and finishes. They are stripped of false artifices leaving the essence of the materials, their texture and porosity. The aim is to clean up the superfluous layers in order to return to the original state of the spaces and to highlight those interventions that deserve to be preserved.

Intervention criteria in the new constructions

A mixed construction system is envisaged, based on the criteria of sustainability and contrast. A metal structure with horizontal / vertical wooden enclosures provides lightness to the massive perception of the existing buildings, finding harmony in the contrast between them.

Contrast criteria

We look for the contrast between concepts to give value to the architecture of existing heritage. These concepts challenge the senses, and therefore, affect the tangible and sensorial qualities. Old / new, rough / smooth, massive / light, closed / permeable, hierarchical / flexible.

The new roofs are integrated with the existing ones in the building of the City Council as well as in the context of the old town. The roof of the main body is completed forming four slopes. It avoids touching the central walls, creating a skylight over the interior patio. These perforations play an important role in the bioclimatic strategy and provide natural lighting to the building.