The Casa Golferichs, built by Joan Rubió, a disciple of Antoni Gaudí, will undergo a renovation. With a budget of 1.7 million euros, the works will update those carried out in the late nineties, when the modernist building, known as El Xalet, reopened its doors after two years of construction.
The Barcelona City Council expects the works to begin in 2026, which is why it has already put out to tender the drafting of the reform project. The action is intended to rehabilitate Casa Golferichs, located on Gran Via, and adapt its spaces to expand the civic center located in the annex building. The modernist jewel, with an area of almost 790 square meters, is expected to have new rooms, classrooms, and storage areas. Currently, the Eixample building houses an exhibition hall, where an exhibition about Francesc Català-Roca's Barcelona can now be seen, and an assembly hall for the civic center. It is also the headquarters of the Fundació Carles Pi i Sunyer.
The current tender, in the resolution phase, is intended to update the project drafted in 2018 by Ravetllat Arquitectura, a firm that already participated in the reform carried out in the late nineties, by professionals Pere Joan Ravetllat and Carme Ribas. The tender is the preliminary step for the contracting and drafting of the executive project and all the necessary administrative procedures, planned for 2025. Regarding the future of the Fundació Carles Pi i Sunyer, work is being done jointly with the city council to find a new location.
Many centuries of history
Although Casa Golferichs dates back to the early 20th century, its past goes back much further. Several historians maintain that the monastery of Santa Maria de Valldonzella was located here, with its first stone laid by Jaume I in 1267, and where Martí l'Humà died.
Many centuries later, the civil engineer and timber merchant Macari Golferichs, with businesses in America, came into play. It was he who commissioned Joan Rubió to build a modernist house, the architect's second work, who also designed the chapel of the Industrial School.
The engineer and merchant Macari Golferichs, with businesses in America, was the one who commissioned the construction of the house from the architect Joan RubióThe Golferichs family lived in the property until the outbreak of the Civil War, when it was confiscated by militiamen who wanted to create a popular university. When the conflict ended, the house passed into the hands of the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation, who considerably modified its interior to convert it into a religious school and erected an annex building.
In the seventies, the modernist jewel was sold to the construction company Núñez i Navarro, with plans to demolish it to build housing. A large campaign launched by the residents of Sant Antoni was able to paralyze the works for more than a decade, until the Barcelona City Council acquired the property in 1984.