The Sant Bertran dock sheds are preparing for their reconversion into a 'startup' 'hub'

Despite being literally attached to the Ronda Litoral, the old sheds of the Sant Bertran dock are little known. A little beyond the Trasmed boarding terminal, with departures to Palma, Eivissa, and Maó, stands a complex of six identical metal-structured warehouses joined by gantries, built during the sixties. After years of neglect, next academic year one of the warehouses will open its doors to startups, companies, and research centers, making 1,500 square meters available to them, with coworking desks with capacity for about 30 workers, but also offices and meeting rooms.

A few months before September arrives, the warehouse, the closest to the urban fabric, is finalizing work to receive its new tenants, with pending tasks such as filling it with furniture, giving it a coat of paint, and bringing 5G connection. The commercialization of the space will begin at the next International Logistics Exhibition (SIL), having already detected some companies interested in settling in.

The renovation of the Sant Bertran sheds is part of the BlueTechPort innovation project, with which the Port of Barcelona wants to foster innovation in its terminals, but also broaden the focus towards new sectors, such as the blue economy. It will start with a first warehouse, with the forecast of adapting the remaining five by 2027. "We want to gain knowledge and experience so as not to start from 0," emphasizes its president, Lluís Salvadó. The World Trade Center (WTC), a public company with a majority stake from the port, will be in charge of managing the space, leaving for the first time the scope of action of the Barcelona dock, where the homonymous building operates.

An investment of 50 million euros will serve to transform the complex, to which a tower will be added. The works will allow reaching an area of 25,000 square meters with capacity to accommodate between 2,500 and 3,000 employees, a figure similar to that of the WTC. It will have laboratories, an auditorium, and several dining options, with a restaurant and a cafeteria, as well as various terraces. To make the connection with the city easier, with the current feeling of being far away, access will be pacified. The b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos firm, responsible for projects such as the new Encants market and the future La Sagrera station, will be in charge of defining the complex.

Works for this new hub are estimated to begin next year. With the first warehouse in operation, the first phase of the works will focus on the other five. Once they are updated, the companies that will be installed from this September in the first warehouse, which will be the object of the second phase of the works, will be moved there.

The b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos studio, responsible for projects such as the new Encants market and the future La Sagrera station, will be in charge of defining the complex.

"It has been a success, today we have no more space available," explains the Director of Innovation at the Port of Barcelona, Emma Cobos. A total of 17 startups have set up in Pier 01, with proposals such as the use of databases for vessel management; the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain for the supply of fuel to vessels, a process known as bunkering, or the development of seawater-resistant screens, already used by some America's Cup teams.