The renovation of this public building has transformed it into a modern, functional educational centre and, in particular, one that is connected to its immediate surroundings. The Campus Planeta will host several thousand students distributed across 15 classrooms and studios. The lecture hall has the capacity to accommodate about 450 students. The students will share the facilities with a staff of 250 people, made up of educational staff and the office staff located on the upper floors.
Permeable building, open to the public
To achieve this goal, three key actions have been carried out. First, converting the first floor into a cafeteria with a terrace visible from the street. Second, and more important, building a large sloping auditorium in the basement that can accommodate both events for the educational centre and others related to the cultural activity of L'Hospitalet.
Although the biggest impact on the city will almost certainly be the one resulting from the work on the facade, which needed to be updated with a more modern appearance. The sides have been stripped of unnecessary elements and painted dark grey to make them uniform. The front facade has been covered with white micro-perforated sheet metal with added low lighting to illuminate the building. This metallic skin give its a technological appearance. Because "we want it to be a permeable building that connects with the city, both in the infrastructure itself and in the activities it hosts", according to Gerard Sanmartí of the LaGranja Design studio.
On the ground floor, there is a reception area with a large wooden counter made specifically for the project. The original exposed slabs have been left, as in all the building’s spaces for public use, and they have been painted intense colours, different on each floor. Large circular metal lamps of the same colour designed by Lagranja Design have been arranged following the grid created by the floor slabs.
Description of project by Lagranja Design
Former court building enabled for new uses: classrooms, auditorium, library, cafeteria, offices.
An attempt has been made to emphasize part of the existing structure of the building (concrete forging made with recoverable casetones and concrete pillars).
In singular spaces (reception, library, cafeteria, auditorium hall) a space without a false ceiling has been left where the old structure is evident by painting the concrete slab in color. In these areas, lamps made of repulsed aluminum (design by Lagranja) have been placed following the grid of the floors and lacquered in the same color with which the visible structure has been painted.
The distribution of classrooms and work spaces has been made through aluminum screens with laminated board doors. In order to distinguish the spaces of classrooms from the work or administrative spaces, the quartering of the screens has been varied. To get intimacy and give personality to the spaces apart from the glasses, vinyl stickers have been added in various designs and colors.
The auditorium is a new creation space resulting from opening part of the slab of the old parking lot to place a ramp that joins the two floors forming the stalls. In this space, the original structure (pillars and slab) has been seen. From 1 meter high with respect to the upper floor both the walls and the ceiling have been painted in blue, while below this level has been covered with carpet and gray sound absorbing felt. This color has also been used for the upholstery of the auditorium seats. A white-colored modular sound-absorbing false ceiling grid has been created.
The ground floor, where the access is located, has been treated as a reception space containing the reception, the library (with independent access), meeting rooms and 3 unique classrooms whose morphology generates an attractive spatial rhythm.
The main staircase (a sculptural piece of reinforced concrete) has been respected and its dimensions have been emphasized with the installation of a 17 meter long lamp designed for this project. Next to the reception, a new circular staircase has been opened that manages to generate adequate access to the new auditorium area.
On the first floor there was a cafeteria space connected to the existing terrace on the main facade. For the design of this space, natural wood furniture has been used to bring warmth to the space.
On the façade, cleaning and reinforcement of the existing structure have been carried out. All the existing coatings have been homogenized by painting them in dark gray. To give a new image to the building and to hide the old main facade, very deteriorated, it has been covered with microperforated sheet metal modules in white (ral 9002).
Lagranja has been commissioned to create a new graphic design for the signage of the building that combines cutting vinyls, metal totems and vinyls adhered to the pavement.
Key facilities: Library and auditorium
On this same floor is the library, which is open not only to students, but also to the residents of L'Hospitalet, as there is direct access from the street. In the library there is a more informal reading room with armchairs which can be closed to host talks, presentations and small events. This floor also houses six meeting rooms and three large classrooms for professional training. These are versatile spaces which can host practical workshops as well as traditional master classes.
Next to the reception a circular staircase has been created that leads to the auditorium, one of the facilities that will also be available for different cultural events in the city. It is a sloping auditorium that occupies the two lower floors. Access is through a large lobby with an office that students can use on a daily basis.
Access to the auditorium is through two side corridors, which consist of two levels, and through which the seating area can be reached. Like the rest of the building’s unique spaces, in the auditorium the original floor is visible and has been painted blue along with all the installations including the walls up to a metre high.
On the floor slabs, white acoustic panels have been placed between which the lighting has been installed. From a metre high it has been covered with felt that joins the carpet of the same colour. The pillars have left in exposed concrete. Haworth armchairs complete this cosy and functional space. Next to the auditorium there will be sets and editing and production rooms which will be used by audiovisual students, in addition to providing support for the different events.
Cafeteria and offices
On the first and second floors, most of the classrooms are located in the exterior area to receive natural light. On both floors, the central core houses the faculty and staff offices of the different training areas. To differentiate one space from another, the offices and rooms for the staff have smaller enclosures, differentiated by different patterns and colours. On this floor is the cafeteria and the terrace, facilities that can also be enjoyed by the residents of L'Hospitalet.
The space is closed off with wooden shelves that act as a bar or high tables and that provide the space with privacy. As in the rest of the building’s service spaces, the roof slabs are exposed, in this case painted green and large metal lamps of the same colour hang from it. The cafeteria and terrace can be accessed through existing emergency stairs. The lifts, facilities and bathrooms are located at the opposite end of the building, and these have been painted dark grey on all the floors to identify the area. The fourth and fifth floors will host the offices of the publisher’s different online training brands, such as CEAC, ESdesign, Uniba and OBS.
Spectacular single piece: Eye lamp
Another of the original elements that has been preserved is the exposed concrete staircase that has merely been restored. In the centre, one of the pieces created specifically for this project by Lagranja stands out: the Eye lamp, a spectacular luminaire 22 metres high composed of seven large spheres. Regarding the office furniture, Haworth chairs and seating have been used in the classrooms and the auditorium. In the cafeteria and library there are pieces of furniture from Lagranja Collection (Lagranja Design’s furniture brand), Normann Copenhagen, Hay, Muuto and Santa & Cole as well as pieces from Fermob and Vondom in the cafeteria terrace. Regarding the lighting, pieces by Simon Lighting, Lamp Lighting and Lagranja Design have been used.
According to the founders of Lagranja Design: "We have tried to create an honest project. The original structure is visible in many parts of the building, while it has been transformed through the use of colour. In the same way, the facade has been modernized, adapting it to the new uses of the building”.
