The great park of Glòries of Barcelona faces the great leap, long awaited by residents and users. After the commissioning of the tunnels, the council begins the redevelopment of the center of the square, that is to say, on the now underground Gran Via. The works will last 20 months and cost 26.4 million euros and will allow green to grow from the current 5 hectares to a total of 9 hectares.
“We will gain more than 10,000 square kilometers of greenery and 472 trees,” Janet Sant, deputy mayor for urban planning, detailed at a press conference. “We have spent many years talking about the tunnel and few talking about what would happen on the surface & rdquor ;, she lamented. The new phase of the works will complete the entire planned park, a “very special & rdquor; and “unconventional”, Sanz recalled, the result of the Canòpia Urbana proposal that won the international competition in 2014.
The intervention also includes planting 23,840 shrubs and plants and conserving or recovering 46 trees that already exist in the affected area. Green will alternate various formats, from more wooded areas to flower beds, ‘rain gardens’ with tall grasses and more diversity nodes closed to the public so that urban fauna can nest in them.
7 singular spaces
This second phase of the park includes 7 unique areas, with different functions, for the leisure and rest of park users. As already explained, the future completed Glòries will have a Sensory Agora dedicated to the activist Berta Cácereswith 1,000 m2 useful for hosting small-format shows with a natural backdrop of giant bamboo.
The subway entranceopposite the Museu del Disseny, will become a “immersion garden & rdquor;, that is to say, a cactus plant tier that connects the surface and lower level of access to public transport. It will have a fixed staircase and another escalator to bridge the distance, but no elevator for the disabled.
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The park will also have a shade house of 668 m2 for small events, a dog area of 760m2 useful and a huge 1,968m2 children’s play area and a special design with 35 game elements, a sandpit and living areas. In addition, Sanz has advanced, the already existing children’s recreation area on the Cartagena side will gain a tree that shades the large central slide, which gets too hot from direct sun. Finally there will also be a corner of 104 m2 for detachable water games for the summer and a viewpoint of the Gran Via on the exit of the tunnels.
A heterogeneous endowment of urban furniture will dot the entire area: 22 benches, 176 chairs, 49 hammocks, 6 picnic tables, 79 litter bins… There will also be 2 kiosks, 4 water fountains and a double call ornamental font Mirror. The renewal will be used to rescue the sculpture The Meridia Withdrawn in 2018 from the adjoining avenue of the same name. The current bike lanes and bus stops will remain in service during and after the works, although at specific times they will change their location to allow the work to progress.