The land where La Soci was located, a sports complex for CaixaBank employees situated in front of Cosmocaixa, will be transformed into a research center, the CaixaBank Research Institute, thanks to an agreement reached by the Barcelona City Council and La Caixa Foundation.
This space, which had tennis courts, swimming pools, a gym, and a multi-sports pavilion, was bought by La Caixa Foundation from CaixaBank in February 2020, for a value of 12.1 million euros. The acquisition took place after the complex closed its doors in 2018 and, subsequently, the association of bank employees and retirees moved to a new location, on Sardenya street, next to Ronda Guinardó. Now, La Caixa Foundation has decided to give it a new use with this scientific project, which will host more than 300 researchers.
The agreement with the city council contemplates the construction of a set of buildings, of about 12,000 square meters and with a maximum height of three floors. The new center will be developed over the next four years and La Caixa Foundation will allocate more than 60 million euros, both for its construction and its equipment.
TAC Arquitectes will be in charge of executing the architectural project. Its main architect, Eduard Gascón, has designed the Manresa Technology Center (CTM), the Mirasol Complex, and the office tower of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce in 22@.
Laboratories and scientific-technical facilities will be installed in the new center, dedicated to research in life sciences, mostly preclinical and translational. More specifically, the research will focus on infectious diseases, global health, oncology, and neurosciences.
The CaixaBank Research Institute is expected to establish synergies with other centers promoted by La Caixa Foundation, such as the Barcelona Global Institute (ISGlobal), the AIDS Research Institute (IrsiCaixa), the Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), and the Barcelona Beta Research Centre (BBRC).
Urban planning processing begins
This Thursday, the processing of the modification of the Metropolitan General Plan (PGM) has begun, and its initial approval is expected next Tuesday in the Commission of Ecology, Urban Planning, Infrastructures, and Mobility. The final approval will have to be given by the Generalitat, a process that is expected to arrive at the beginning of next year.
A total of 53,000 square meters will be reorganized. This area includes the plot where the former complex of the banking entity's workers' association was located, with 16,000 square meters; part of the land around the Torrent del Frare Blanc, and green areas of municipal ownership in front of the Ronda de Dalt.
In addition to the construction of the CaixaBank Research Institute, the agreement establishes the urbanization of a new public square over the Ronda, connecting the new center with Cosmocaixa. Likewise, in the back part of the center, a public green area of 1,200 square meters will be enabled, next to the Collserola Park.
A 21st-century research center
At the presentation of the agreement, the president of the La Caixa Foundation, Isidre Fainé, defended that the new space will become "one of the great research centers of the 21st century" and will be so thanks to public-private collaboration. "The new center will be the result of the sum of many efforts, of many wills, that believe in working for the common good. A new space designed to improve people's lives," Fainé remarked.
For her part, the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, also celebrated that the agreement allows retaining the talent in the city with a new scientific space. "With projects like this, we all vindicate the central role that the city is playing in the new transition we are experiencing to achieve a more diversified economy, capable of innovating and attracting talent," she explained.