KNEM Offices | b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos

The project, situated on a plot in the Poblenou district of Barcelona formerly part of the extensive jute works popularly known as El Cànem, preserves the original façade on calle Doctor Trueta, which is listed in the Architectural Heritage Protection Plan.

The administrative programme is distributed in three volumes linked by an ample landscaped passage, one fronting onto each of the lateral streets and the third, lower volume in the middle of the city block. A continuous brickwork plinth unifies the three volumes in form and programme. The use of ceramic facings, a feature of Poblenou’s historical industrial architecture, contrasts with the glass boxes that rest on the plinth and house the main workspaces. Views and exposure to the sun are filtered through an aluminium lattice that evokes the woven fibres of jute fabric while diffusing the building’s urban presence with its abstract geometry.

The volumes facing the lateral streets have open flexible office areas thanks to the strategic location of the vertical cores and the long-span structure. In contrast, the middle volume has a sequence of smaller units on two levels which open onto the landscaped passage, reminiscent of the industrial workshops that once filled this part of the city. The new complex thus offers a variety of quality workspaces, capable of responding to the rapidly evolving needs of today’s technology and innovation district while conserving and paying tribute to some of the characteristic features of its industrial past.

Energy certificates: Leed Gold
b720 Team: Fermín Vázquez, Peco Mulet, Eduardo Varas, Pablo Garrido, Cristina Gassó, Elisabet Usón, Maialen Andiarena, Ruxandra Avramescu
Construction: Copcisa SA
Collaborators: BIS Structures (Structural Engineers), Deerns (MEP), Mirla (Landscape)
Photographer: Adrià Goula