The refurbishment of the Mercat de Sant Andreu began at the end of 2019. On 15^th September, 2022, the new market opened. During the construction period, a temporary market was located in Carrer de Sant Adrià.

The refurbishment work included both the main building and the market sales premises. The project is signed by the technical and architectural team of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona and headed by the architect Blanca Noguera.

Technical details

• A proposed building with a new volumetrics with a ground floor as a sales floor and a basement floor with market logistics.
• Recover the existing trusses of the two lateral naves of the market, discarding the central nave due to its disproportionate height with respect to the square and opting for a sawtooth cut section that takes advantage of lighting and ventilation.
• Different roof plans that, through the integration of several skylights to allow more clarity in the market, draw a framework on the roof that aims to reduce the impact and integrate with the rest of the roofs of the urban fabric.
• The façades are presented with the greatest transparency, using as materials glass, steel carpentry, wood for the blind parts and sun protection.
• Each of the façades integrates the different accesses linked to the network of surrounding streets.
• The entire square is paved, including under the porches, and the drainage and its lighting are adapted.
• In the sales premises, a cover is placed with wooden trusses that reproduce the ones that already existed, and a rise in the foreground body of the square to fill the void that was there.

Results

The facility has new services and infrastructure, given that an administration area, a multipurpose room and a kitchen classroom have been incorporated in the spaces that were previously empty. In addition, the main building has been integrated directly into the neighbourhood thanks to the new glass façades that bring the commercial activity closer, added to the good connection of its entrances with the outside that have become a continuation of the streets. To make this possible, the placement of the stalls has been carried out in the form of ‘islands’.

It is worth highlighting the fact that the work done on the roof and the reuse of materials from the old market that preserve the historical memory. The roof has been configured so that it is a cleaner building and the chimneys are no longer visible. In addition, solar collectors, photovoltaic panels have been incorporated and the ventilation has also been enhanced to keep the temperature of the market stable without the need for so much electricity consumption.