It was the subject of a comprehensive refurbishment, according to a project by PB2 Llobet-Bach Associats, represented by the Sabadell architect Josep Llobet.

The works, which were carried out by the company Dragados, lasted 18 months, during which time the traders continued their activity in a temporary market set up in Plaça de Gal·la Placídia.

The building, the work of the architect Miquel Pasqual i Tintoré, with forgings by Francesc Berenguer i Mestres, is protected by the Catalogue of the architectural-historical-artistic heritage of the city of Barcelona as a Cultural Property of Local Interest. For this reason, the project foresaw the comprehensive restoration of the market, to recover the existing closures of the façade and the roof, in addition to the cleaning and protection of the structural and ornamental metal elements of the original building.

Technical details

• Restoration of the building and recovery of the structural and ornamental elements.
• Interior reorganisation of all the stalls, to facilitate the recovery and repair work on the iron structure, and the redistribution of the exterior stalls to enhance the visibility of the building's heritage values.
• Improvement of the layout of the interior stalls, with a reduction in the number of aisles and expansion of the passage space.
• Locating the unloading bays underground, improvement of selective rubbish collection, heating and cooling and construction of a car park for traders.

Results

The facility increased its usable area from 2,200 m² to 4,400m² and has new services and infrastructure: car parking, heating and cooling, a 196 m² mezzanine floor with a multipurpose room and a Bonpreu supermarket, so that residents can do one-stop shopping.

In addition to the underground unloading bays, storerooms and a waste management room, lifts and good lifts, the market maintained a similar number of indoor establishments as it had before the refurbishment, and incorporated new commercial activities in stalls of greater dimensions.