The New Urban Fabrik. A new green urban industry

If Barcelona is to become a self-sufficient city with productive neighborhoods, its urban industry will have a key role. The term New Urban Fabrik merges two words that have been at odds for too long: “fabrik”, understood as factory or productive space; and “fabric”, the urban tissue of the city. This merger is possible thanks to the appearance of a thriving new urban industry that is green, intensive in added value, creates qualitative jobs and is perfectly compatible with all the other uses of the city.

Torrent Estadella, a large (30ha) industrial area in the district of Sant Andreu, in Barcelona, provides a prime opportunity for this New Urban Fabrik to prosper. The historical barriers that kept the area apart from the city -a polluted river and the railway- are becoming metropolitan green links; the river is now clean and has transformed into the Besòs Fluvial Park, and the railway will be covered by the largest park of the city, the Sagrera Linear Park. The area will also become central and hyperconnected with the construction of the Barcelona-Sagrera High Speed Train Station, the new central station of the city.

A disconnected but central area, still active but in decay

The first phase of the urban study consisted of a meticulous analysis of the site. The industries were mapped and classified by specialty. The analysis concluded that the site is very varied in specializations and that it there is still activity, in spite of the 2008 global crisis. Nevertheless, about 25% of the premises are vacant.

The public space is used informally and spontaneously, but lacking the minimum standards for an urban street in Barcelona -such as controlled parking areas, trees, garbage contrainers, minumum street lighting- and generally in a bad condition.

From “rieres” to Green Ramblas. The reconnection to the city

Green Ramblas are a new concept of renaturalized urban axis which, through the use of Water Sensitive Urban Design (W.S.U.D.) techniques, enables the onsite ecological management of rain water by allowing water to infiltrate into the ground or storing it for further uses like watering the city greenery.

The Green Infrastructure
The productive and ecological public space

The Green Ramblas are part of a Green Infrastructure, that we understand as a productive and ecological public space. Productive, because the green areas will provide locally grown food and will clean waste water. Ecological, because the existing and new streets will be capable of ecologically managing the water cycle on site. The Green Infrastructure is formed by the following elements: the Stream Streets, the Filtering Rambla and the Farm of Sant Andreu.

La Sagrera Eco-Cluster
The Green Economy District

Barcelona needs the development of the Green Economy if it is to meet its ambition of becoming a self-sufficient and zero-emissions city. This is why we propose that the area specializes in green companies, as they are clean -and therefore compatible with the other uses of the city, such as housing- forming the Sagrera Eco-Cluster.

The Silo Building
A new compact and urban industrial type

In terms of sustainability, urban soil is a scarce and precious resource and, therefore, its use needs to be optimized: the less soil consumed by the footprint of buildings, the more can be saved for much needed urban green and public space. Thus, a new industrial building type is proposed: the Silo Building. In it, industrial plots are piled up, and a structure of Vierendeel beams allows for a dopuble-height, flexible column-free interior where mezzanines can be added where needed.

A more detailed and in-depth publication containing the full study as well as a summary can be found here: