Starting this Saturday, the Catalan capital will have a new viewpoint: Unlimited Barcelona, a 500-square-meter space with 360º views over the city, a project for which the Enjoybcn group has dedicated five million euros. The investment has focused on adapting the 20th floor of the Torre Urquinaona, the building that Antonio Bonet Castellana erected on the corner of Plaza de Urquinaona and Pau Claris, a construction that contrasts with the bulk of the buildings in the area due to its aesthetics and height.
The tower also shares a square with the Fàbregas building, by Madrid-born Luis Gutiérrez Soto, a functionalist and rationalist construction considered the city's first skyscraper, although this one is residential and only the first floors were designed to house offices, while the commission given to Bonet Castellana was originally conceived to accommodate companies and corporations in open-plan spaces.
The new attraction for Barcelonans and visitors is an initiative of a locally owned tourist accommodation firm: Enjoybcn, which manages 56 apartments in the city center located in six different buildings.
The offices and central services of this firm are at number six of Plaza Urquinaona, and from there the idea of an experience for city visitors was born: to start their stay in their Barcelona apartments by passing through the tower to manage the delivery of apartment keys, although that idea was later modified to convert the 19th floor of the building into The 19th Hole BCN: a business and events center with 10 meeting rooms and two offices, all with privileged views over Barcelona from the heart of the city.
"The space opened in November 2019 and then... what happened, happened," Carmen de la Maza, executive director of the 19th-floor center, tells The New Barcelona Post. "The property, very committed to Barcelona, saw with interest how the floor immediately above ours, home to a paper company, became vacant and we added that extra space to what we already have on the 17th floor and this one."
An opportunity on the 20th
Enjoybcn took over the highest floor of the building (there are two more, although they are technical and the rooftop) and with the renovation achieved a huge open-plan space in which, as a nod to the architect, part of the interior decoration reproduces in wood the characteristic exterior stoneware plates that Bonet Catellana chose for their durability and resistance.
The success of the visits to the 20th floor in the 2021 edition of the 48 Open House Barcelona put the apartment and space rental firm on the track of a new initiative: to take advantage of the privileged Urquinaona lookout to turn it into a viewpoint open to the public and not only for those who rent the rooms and their guests.
"We saw clearly that the enthusiasm and interest of the Open House visitors could not be limited to just one day. There is interest in seeing the city from above and Barcelona deserves to have a viewpoint, just as it already happens in other big cities," says Mireia Bessó, general director of all spaces. Bessó is behind the idea of opening the 20th floor to the public on weekends and holidays with an initial schedule from 10 am to 10 pm.
"We have also believed that it will be very attractive to open the space to the public during the Christmas holidays, Easter, and the months of July and August, times when there are more visits and precisely less demand for rental spaces for companies and corporations, so everything will be very balanced," she indicates.
360º views from 12 euros
The promoters of this space clarify from the beginning that they will be totally flexible regarding the operation and demand of the space, responding to what visitors prefer. Initially, the new space will open for the first time on Saturday, March 12, and the general admission price for an adult, with an average visit time of one hour, has been set at 12 euros. With the ticket, adults can have a glass of cava, and the company offers discounts for children, people over 65, and people with reduced mobility. Special prices are also planned for packages of 4 tickets, group visits, and free access for children under five years old.
Premium product and other viewpoints
There is also a project to offer access, with a stay and premium products at the viewpoint, and in addition to enjoying the sunset that can be experienced from the heights starting next Saturday, there is also a study to open at dawn to enjoy the sunrise over the horizon line over the Mediterranean. All tickets are purchased on the Unlimited Barcelona website.
"We want to start with commitment: one euro from each ticket is donated to the Fundació el Llindar, an organization that guides and accompanies 400 young people and adolescents excluded from the educational and social system each year," says Bessó. "El Llindar helps them in their transition to adult life, alternating between quality and qualified training and work, so that they can return to the educational system in better conditions or access the labor market."
In addition to the local commitment with suppliers from the city and surroundings and with Barcelona institutions, the new space also wants to be a place for "proximity" artistic promotion with temporary exhibitions. These will start with two authors: model maker and sculptor Naxo Farreras and plastic artist Pilar Correa.
With this space 70 meters high in the heart of Plaza Urquinaona, Barcelona opens or reopens three spaces with privileged views this 2022: Unlimited Barcelona, the restaurant of the Nobu Barcelona hotel, on the 23rd floor of the building that was once the Torre Catalunya and the brand new Torre Glòries viewpoint, which will be managed by Mediapro and will open this spring.
Views from the heights to regain the pulse of the city.