Espai Bombers, Barcelona
Architect: Roldán + Berengué
Year: 2016
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Category: Cultural / Museum
Status: Unbuilt
About
The project transforms the old fire station on Lleida Street, built for the 1929 International Exposition, including it in the cultural network known as ‘Montjuïc, Museum Mountain.’ The original building – the first raised for this purpose in Spain –, included in the Special Protection Plan and Architectural Heritage Catalogue District, was a fire station until 2000 and later became a police station. In 2013 a competition was called to refurbish the building, now converted into a Firefighter Station-Fire Prevention Center. In the old fire station of 1929, the new building harbors an exhibition space and a center to inform on disaster prevention and emergencies. It is also a gathering place for firefighters’ associations. In the refurbishment project the masonry wall is replaced with a curtain of metallic columns that support the three new slabs and the roof, configuring a Vierendeel beam suspended on the first floor.