Barcelona is renowned for its wealth of talented artists, academics and designers. To recognise the high standard of creation, research and cultural production carried out in the city each the, the City council hold the “Premio de la ciudad” annually.

These awards honour artists and creators across a range of disciplines including Architecture, visual arts, life sciences, design, popular and traditional culture, education, music, theatre and literature in both Catalan and Spanish. Past winners in the architecture category included names as well known as Norman Foster (1992 winner), Flores & Prats (2016), BAAS arquitectes (2009) and Arata Isozaki (1990).

This 15th Of February, Ada Colau, the Mayor of Barcelona, and Joan Subirats, the Minister For Culture, presided over the ceremony for the presentation of the “premios de la ciudad de Barcelona” 2017. The act took place in the “Saló de Cent” and was chaired by the journalist Betevé Eva Arderius. The design for the image of this year's festival was a work br Míriam Ortega, winner of a competition organised by the “Escuela Superior de Diseño y Arte La Llotja”.

The jury for the award, comprised of Olga Tarrassó (president), Ramon Faura, Eva Prats, Franc Fernández and Alessandro Scanatto, unanimously awarded this year's prize in the architecture and urbanism category to Spanish firm Harquitectes for the rehabilitation of the building “Lleiltat Santsenca” a listed building located at “Carrer dÓlzinelles 31” in Barcelona. The judges commended the careful balance between the new intervention and the existing building in addition to the careful material treatment. 

The prize ceremony can be watched on the below link (In Catalan):

Video courtesy of Barcelona Cultura

The building “LLeialtat Saintseneca” originally played host to one of the first “Co-operatives” created in Sants, Barcelona. Designed by Catalan architect Josep Alemany i Juvé, the building was constructed in 1928. During subsequent years, the building endured a turbulent history, being used as a nougat factory for a short while and later as the location of a party room known as the “Bahia”.

After years of abandonment, the remodelling project began in July 2014 and despite a short pause, were completed in June 2017. The newly-restored building will house neighbourhood facilities including a civic center.

The scheme for the restoration of this important part of both the urban and cultural fabric of Sants, Barcelona can be divided into three separate study areas that developed into a rich and rigorously researched proposal. 

An initial historic study into the history of the building and its role within the neighbourhood was complemented by a rigorous survey of the physical state of the building to permit any intervention to work with the “as-found” condition of the existing edifice. The two initial studies later formed the basis for collaborative design phase initiated by neighbourhood authorities in 2009 to kickstart the recovery process.

All images © Adriá Goula unless otherwise stated

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