Can a civic and active roadway be achieved? Redesigning the links, the relationship between the adjoining urban fabric and access to Besòs park are the most important challenges for transforming this area.
B-10 / Gran Via junction
Area 2 includes the B-10 (Ronda Litoral) from the mouth of the River Besòs to Passeig de Santa Coloma, with the most complex area located at the B-10–Gran Via junction. A large number of mobility infrastructures (roads, railways and the tramway) coexist at this point, which over time have isolated the river from the urban environment. Active mobility in a crosswise direction is conditioned by the obstacle of having to overcome the Ronda Litoral and the River Besòs. For this reason, intersections are considered strategic points for metropolitan relations. Currently, however, the different residential fabrics on both sides of the river (the neighbourhoods of La Catalana, La Mina and Bon Pastor on the right bank, and the residential front of Santa Coloma de Gramanet and Sant Adrià de Besòs on the left bank) have difficulty in establishing relations between themselves and with the River Besòs. Other industrial and productive fabrics, such as the La Verneda industrial estate, are also expectant, awaiting the transformation that the station project and the Sagrera green axis will entail.
One of seven
Team: JPAM, AUDING INTRAESA, ANNA ZAHONERO
Seven new crossroads on the Ronda Litoral form new urban centres linking the municipalities. These strategic crossroads are highly accessible public spaces which, above the B-10, connect Barcelona, Badalona, Santa Coloma and the Besòs river area. The proposal involves a metropolitan avenue that overlaps with the Ronda Litoral to overcome segregation, channel public and private mobility and enhance the connectivity of the road and public transport network. The intersections of the Ronda where the urban axes, the metropolitan axes and most of the access points converge are spaces that give continuity to the urban fabric and strengthen the supra-municipal urban centrality.
Of the seven crossroads, noteworthy is the one at the junction of the Gran Via and the B-10, which becomes blurred, generating two side avenues for public transport and a large metropolitan square with an intermodal station (suburban line trains, bus rapid transit (BRT), urban buses and car park).
The jury very positively values the large central square space on Gran Via and the effort to connect the two banks of the river: a clear and balanced approach between green infrastructure, road infrastructure and urban fabric.
N2 Ride&Park
Team: Joan Solà Font + Carles Crosas Armengol (UPC) + Jordi Julià Sort - TRN TÁRYET
Parc-Besòs Central Gateway: a metropolitan centrality and a biodiversity space. This strategy for the Besòs system is based on the transformation of a sector built on the back of the river into an urban centre that accommodates new uses and is linked to stations and a powerful bus structure on the B-10. It fixes the discontinuities in the streets cut off by major infrastructure and the river, while maintaining the main road links and opening up new accessibility in two ways: train stations, tram and bus rapid transit (BRT) on the one hand, and streets between neighbourhoods on the other.
The urban development plan proposes the extension of the river area with two large parks. A multi-connector platform is suggested at the intersection of Gran Via with the railway tracks and the extension of the Via Trajana; a series of multi-purpose high-rise buildings located near the new station, which acts as a hinge between the upper level of the city and one of the parks.
The jury values highly the recycling of existing infrastructures to build an edge of the city and create a park as an extension of the Besòs river space, and above all the relationship that is established through this new "balcony".
The heart of the Besòs
Team: Alonso Hernández & Asociados Arquitectura SL (AH asociados) + Edit AS + V.S. Ingenieria Y Urbanismo SL
Existing elements are reinvented to build a new identity rooted in the territory. The road junction is simplified to give continuity to the interstices with the River Besòs. A new viaduct is created for the circulation of motor vehicles on Gran Via and the reuse of the two existing margins are reused in the form of two linear parks. A linear building is proposed on the suburban railway line, from Rambla Guipúzcoa to the Besòs River Park and La Mina neighbourhood. This new infrastructure is configured as the linear balcony of the station, which articulates the surrounding open spaces thanks to its permeability at ground level.
The urban planning integrates new volumes and programmes between residential estates and open spaces. In addition, the structure of the La Verneda industrial estate will be extended to connect it with the park, looking for synergies with the industrial and logistical fabric of the surrounding area.
The jury considers the relationship between the city, the new station and the park to be very interesting. It also positively values the connections for active mobility to the right side of the river, which take advantage of existing infrastructure routes.
Besòs metropolitan crossroads park
Team: MAYORGA+FONTANA ARQUITECTOS (Miguel Mayorga / Maria Pia Fontana) + PLANO ARQUITECTOS (Mateo Trujillo / Andrés Gómez / Luis Felipe Gómez) + INTELLIGENT MOBILITY (Xavier Abadía) + Teresa Navas Ferrer + Gemma Salvador Obiols + Asesoría: Manuel Herce Vallejo
A new multifunctional crossroads recycles road infrastructures and provides a backbone for green infrastructure. The proposal involves creating a park of parks with a mixed programme: for sports, culture, leisure and recreation, but also a residential and neighbourhood park, around a new soft, urban and local centrality. The urban riverside amenities are integrated as landmarks in the river landscape to give the central space of the park an identity.
The junctions are transformed to reinforce centrality on an urban scale, while maintaining metropolitan functionality. Taking advantage of the interstitial spaces and gaps in the urban environment, a new access to the Besòs River Park is generated in the form of a meander on the banks of the river.
The jury values highly the fact that the space around the junction has been freed up as much as possible and that a programme of amenities has been incorporated. The highlight of the proposal is that one side of Gran Via is transformed into a powerful connector for pedestrians and bicycles.
The Delta. A new urban landscape
Team: BAU-B.ARQUITECTURA I URBANISME SLP
Green and blue infrastructure reinforces the identity of urban fabrics. The project proposes to lengthen some active mobility axes to connect both sides of the river together and give access to the park, reinforcing the views of the river and coastal landscape. In order to bring the city closer to the river, at the points where there is a difference in level between the city and the Ronda Litoral, platforms are proposed on top of the infrastructures, with spaces for new amenities for the neighbourhood or landscaped spaces that act as a transition between the city and the river park and form the façade on the right bank of the river.
The proposal includes the burying and recovery of the R3 suburban railway line from La Sagrera to Avinguda de Manuel Fernández Márquez. This operation, combined with the simplification of the road junction, makes it possible to connect the currently segregated urban fabrics, incorporate new uses and reconfigure the boundaries of the existing large urban areas.
The jury values the proposal's effort to rationalise and simplify the junction and create a limited extension of the urban fabric.