Description of the project by Roldán + Berengué Arquitectos
Background.-
The original building, designed by the architect Emilio Gutiérrez, was the first of its kind built specifically for this purpose in Spain and is the only historic fire station still preserved in Barcelona.
The station is classified as level D in the Special Protection Plan of the Architectural Heritage Catalog, which means that it could have been demolished following a documentary survey.
It operated as a fire station until the year 2000 and then became a police station of the National Police until 2011.
The former fire station consisted of three naves that formed a U-shape around the central parking area. The nave, two stories high, is connected on the first floor by a balcony open to the central space.
It was constructed with the techniques of its time: the vertical structure was solid brick walls, the floors were constructed with metallic beams and Catalan vaults, and the roof was supported by a system of metal trusses and wood rafters.
The new building houses a program of exhibition, education, and communication areas focusing on the prevention of fires, disasters, and emergencies. At the same time, it also functions as a meeting place for retired firefighters associations. The exhibitions come from the extensive and valuable collections of the Barcelona Fire Department, which consists of a variety of material such as vehicles, machinery, equipment, uniforms, and an important photographic collection.
Exhibition space as an inner street.-
The main entrance of the museum recovers the old historical lateral access of the vehicles avoiding an entrance that was located literally in the axis of the building.
This announces the entrance from the perspective of Tamarit Street as well as directly connects the building with the Avenida del Paral•lel.
We reutilized the inner parking area of the fire engines as an exhibition space and opened it to the street: The exhibition space symbolized as a covered street.
Dialogue between the existing and the new considering the construction systems.-
The project consisted of integral rehabilitation, conservation and adaptation of the most important typological elements such as the central parking area and the tower, which was originally used for training and the drying of the hoses.
Accommodating the new program required: expansion of the surface by 30%, optimization of the circulation space, and increasing the visual permeability between the different naves.
The main transformation of the building focused on the posterior nave:
- From 2 floors we expanded to 4 and In this nave we located the main staircase, visually connecting the whole building. Now the roof and the terraces are incorporated into the program.
- Constructively and structurally, we replaced the front blind brick wall to the patio with a curtain wall of steel pillars from which hung the 3 new floors and the roof.
The curtain wall of 8x12x0.8 cm steel pillars placed every 50 cm is transformed into a Vierendeel truss of 24 meters long and 2 meters high without the diagonal members. This was supported on only two pillars in the corners to leave the ground floor free.
Corners: meeting points.-
On the inner side walls we removed the old openings and opened the new ones in the corners. Circulation now occur diagonally.
We optimized the circulation spaces to free the lateral naves to become exhibition spaces.
Arched windows and doors release these new permeabilities in the corners of the central exhibition space.
The new openings are realized with a delicate method of disc cutting through the existing brick walls.
Vertical heart.-
The old practice tower is incorporated as an element of vertical connection, symbolic and functional.
Climate Conditioning vs. Aire volume: 30% reduction of consumption.-
The conditioning system per stratification diffuses air only into the lower parts of the building.
1. Reduction of 30% of the consumption because it is conditioned only the occupied volume, using the radiant floor for heating and cooling.
2. Additional reduction through the use of CO2 sensors and a variable airflow system enables real-time adaption to the needs of each moment.
3. Direct radiation from the south is avoided by removing the roof skylight.
4. Maximum natural illumination form the main façade towards the central space.
