The Ciutadella del Coneixement (Citadel of Knowledge) is a scientific, cultural, and urbanistic initiative that aims to create a knowledge hub in the Ciutadella Park with a total of 300,000 square meters. With the aspiration of becoming a new central area of Barcelona, it will involve the participation of some thirty institutions, such as universities, hospitals, foundations, and museums, all located in the area.
The objective is to dedicate this knowledge hub to planetary well-being, a concept that refers to improving the health and well-being of people, society, and the environment. It also aims to open the park to the city, both by breaking down the walls that separate it from the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) campus and by overcoming the obstacles on the way to the sea; to reuse some of the historical buildings in the park, now forgotten, such as the Castle of the Three Dragons and the Greenhouse; and to reorient the Barcelona Zoo, turning it into a center for the study and conservation of biological diversity.
The first step in the major transformation planned for Ciutadella Park is the construction of a research complex by the UPF, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) on the land where the Old Fish Market stood until the 1980s, now occupied by a parking lot of the municipal company B:SM. With an area of 7,500 square meters and 46,000 square meters of buildable floor space, the new complex will research biomedicine, biodiversity, and planetary well-being, and will bring together 1,200 people in its facilities.
In an event this Thursday, the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau; the rector of the UPF, Jaume Casals; the CSIC delegate in Catalonia, Lluís Calvo, and the president of BIST, Andreu Mas-Colell, presented the latest news about the Old Fish Market project. Finally, construction will begin in April 2022, ten months later than planned, and will finish in the first half of 2025.
The processing of this project has finally been unblocked this week, with the prior approval from the Commission of Ecology, Urban Planning, Infrastructures and Mobility of the Special Urban Planning and Urban Improvement Plan (PEUMU). The definitive approval of this document will take place at the end of the month in the City Council plenary session.
Last steps before the start of works
The PEUMU represents the definitive impulse for the research complex, regulating the facilities that will be built: the three buildings of the UPF, the CSIC and the BIST, and a new B:SM parking lot, which will be underground. Once this process is completed, the reallocation of the space will proceed, and construction licenses for the new buildings can be requested.
In parallel, the CSIC, the UPF, and the BIST will define their buildings. The CSIC and the UPF will launch a joint competition during the second half of this year, with the aim of maintaining a shared aesthetic. On the other hand, the BIST already launched an international competition last year and is now in the process of evaluating five proposals, after selecting them from the 30 it received. The institution will decide which one to choose at the end of June.
The total budget for this project will be 92.8 million euros. The most expensive will be the BIST building, with 54.9 million. It will also be the one that occupies the most space and the tallest, with eight floors.