The expansion of Fira de Barcelona in Gran Via to consolidate its global leadership is already underway. The large store that Porcelanosa had right next to the fairgrounds has been stripped and now only retains its skeleton and facade, where only the logo that congress attendees saw so many times before entering a hall can now be glimpsed.
With its demolition, Fira de Barcelona kicks off the construction of a new pavilion in the municipality of L'Hospitalet, which will allow it to add 60,000 square meters of gross area, reaching a total of 300,000 square meters. This will strengthen the relationship with important congresses with growth expectations ---once the ravages of the pandemic are over--- that ran the risk of running out of exhibition space, especially the Mobile World Congress (MWC). Demolition work will last until the end of March, when the foundation of the future building will begin, which will become the ninth pavilion of Gran Via and will be known as pavilion 0.
The project will involve an investment of 201 million euros and the works are expected to be completed in 2026. The final drafting of the executive project is still pending, financed through the patrimonial company Fira 2000, formed by the Generalitat, the city councils of Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.
If the Japanese architect Toyo Ito was in charge of designing the Gran Via venue, the construction of an annex pavilion will also bear his signature, in collaboration with the Barcelona firm b720 Fermín Vázquez, with whom he already worked for the two skyscrapers in front, occupied by the Porta Fira hotel and the Realia Building, intended for offices. In 2021, Fira 2000 commissioned Ito to design the preliminary project for the transformation, with the aim of achieving an image similar to that of the rest of the venue. The new Gran Via pavilion will be connected by a walkway to the current one, allowing crossing the facilities from end to end, as can already be done from pavilion 1 to 8, and will have two office towers and a public square.
The entrance to the new building will mimic the main access to the fair on the other side of Avenida Juan Carlos I. At the bottom, there will be meeting and protocol rooms. A panoramic elevator will go up to the roof, where two office towers will emerge, lower than Ito's neighboring skyscrapers, and a green space that will serve as a public square, with restaurants and terraces. The exhibition space will have two floors, each with 17,135 square meters of usable area. There will be no shortage of jellyfish and organic forms that characterize the Japanese architect.
The expansion of the L'Hospitalet fair complex will be complemented by the modernization of the Montjuïc venue. After carrying out a participatory process among entities and residents of the area, the Barcelona City Council defined a reform that will consist of halving the space dedicated to fair use, reducing it to just over 70,000 square meters, and the freed-up surface will be allocated to 500 public housing units and six new facilities such as a Primary Care Center (CAP), an assistance center for the elderly, and a library. It will also allow the expansion of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC). This transformation will be carried out with a view to 2029, the year the centenary of the Barcelona International Exposition will be celebrated.
To finance both projects, Fira 2000 will receive a loan of 110 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB). For the rest of the investment, the company plans to resort to external debt, such as bank financing, as well as a possible second loan with the EIB. It has also been contemplated that the Generalitat and the city councils of Barcelona and L'Hospitalet negotiate with the European Union the possibility of obtaining 30 million euros from European funds.
New Porcelanosa store in Plaza Europa
With the demolition of its establishment next to the Fira, Porcelanosa will move a few meters away, locating itself in Plaza Europa. Specifically, it will be installed on the ground floor of the complex formed by the Hotel Porta Fira and the Realia Building. Previously, this location housed a Barimueble store. The tile firm based in Villarreal will invest more than three million euros in L'Hospitalet, where it has also opened a new logistics center, which previously shared space with the store next to Fira de Barcelona. The warehouse is located on Dolors Aleu street, very close to its previous address.
The tile firm based in Villarreal will invest more than three million euros in L'Hospitalet, where it has also opened a new logistics centerThe new store in L'Hospitalet will open throughout this year and will have an area of 1,100 square meters, less than the now demolished one, which had 2,000 square meters. The surface area of the logistics center has also been reduced, from 8,000 square meters to 5,000 square meters. In the latter, the multinational's offices in Catalonia have been included, where more than 60 company employees work, most of them sales representatives. There is also an area for processing large-format materials, increasingly demanded by its clients.
The investment that Porcelanosa will make in the metropolitan city is accompanied by what it has already disbursed to launch its first store in Barcelona, with a budget of one million euros. It is located on Avenida Diagonal, between Balmes and Enric Granados, and has 380 square meters of exhibition space, spread over two floors.