Alonso y Balaguer con la colaboración inicial de Richard Rogers proyectan la rehabilitación de la Antigua Plaza de Toros de las Arenas en la plaza de España de Barcelona, convirtiéndola en un nuevo y potente equipamiento ciudadano de uso recreativo y comercial.
El proyecto parte de la decisión de mantener su fachada neomudejar de 1900 debido a su valor simbólico, apostando por una propuesta tecnológica de vanguardia y de sutura urbanística del entorno. La fachada se ha hecho levitar mediante un complejo sistema de pilotaje, pilares metálicos y una gran viga perimetral, que mantiene el cilindro de fábrica de ladrillo elevado sobre la cota de la plaza de España para asegurar la permeabilidad peatonal de la planta baja.
Alonso and Balaguer, with initial collaboration by Richard Rogers, designed the renovations to the former Las Arenas Bullring in Plaza de España, Barcelona, making it a powerful new urban facility for recreational and business uses.
This project is based on the decision to maintain the 1900 neo-Mudejar facade due to its symbolic value, installing a cutting edge technological proposal that stitches the urban environment together. The facade 'levitates' thanks to a complex system of pilotage, metal pillars and a large perimeter beam, keeping the brick cylinder raised above the level of Plaza de España to ensure permeability for pedestrians on the ground floor.
Escofet has collaborated in the design, manufacture and installation of modular paving slabs in buffed precast concrete with incrusted borosilicate glass beads in the five rings that organize the building's new 17,000m2 interior zone. On the upper level there is a circular panoramic terrace with public access, paved with the same concrete and glass bead modules, incorporating a non-slip finish for safe outdoor use. On the ground floor level, pairs of angled pillar props are protected by large pre-cast concrete bases if the same colour and finish as the pavement.
Photography: Wenzel Fotografía.
