After 20 years of disuse, the old cannon foundry in La Rambla is closer to reopening as the Digital Art Center of Catalonia. The H Arquitectes studio has won the competition to rehabilitate the building, which will become a reference space dedicated to the creation, exhibition, and dissemination of art linked to technology.
The conversion of the building into this innovative center requires an investment of 13 million euros, ten of which will be allocated to the renovation of the property, located a few meters from the Columbus statue. With the rehabilitation of the facade already underway, the center is expected to open its doors in 2027.
The interior renovation will begin in 2025 by the architectural studio. Its proposal, which maintains the architectural value of the property and recovers original elements, also enhances the future uses of the building, giving priority to the versatility of the spaces to adapt them to museographic proposals.
With this objective, the project recovers the old grand lobby of the foundry as an open-plan space eight meters high, original from the time when the building was the headquarters of the Banc de Barcelona in the 19th century. This large space will host exhibition areas of La Foneria, which will also be located on its lower floors. For its part, the upper floors will be dedicated to creation.
The building, built at the end of the 17th century and owned by the Generalitat since 2003, has five floors totaling 3,380 square meters. In addition to generating spaces for the creation and exhibition of digital art, La Foneria aims to establish itself as an international reference center in this field, from La Rambla.