Transformation under way in the area around the old Hospital de la Santa Creu

The opening of a new connection between the Jardins de Rubió i Lluch and Plaça de la Gardunya is the first measure in the project to renovate and transform the former Hospital de la Santa Creu, at the centre of El Raval, in Ciutat Vella. The final project will have a budget of 820,000 euros, with work to begin in the summer of 2025 and conclude in 2026.

30/01/2025 13:50 h

Ajuntament de Barcelona

The new connection will mean a third entrance to the Jardins de Rubió i Lluch, together with the entrances in C/ Hospital and C/ Carme. The project guarantees an accessible route for pedestrians all the way and must help to create new flows and provide new uses for the gardens, the square and the whole vicinity.

The project will demolish the physical barriers that separate the eastern and western patios, the gardens and the square, using solutions to preserve the difference in levels and reserving spaces where services for the community can be established. This work will have an estimated cost of a further 250,000 euros.

New cultural uses at the former hospital

The work lays the foundations for the overall project for the former Hospital de la Santa Creu, which will make 12,000 square metres of space available for new uses as a cultural facility. The intention is to enlarge the current library and turn it into the new district library for Ciutat Vella, mainly occupying the part of the façade that gives onto Pl. Gardunya, covering the ground floor and the first and second floors.

Part of the ground floor will also be used as a stage and for educational and cultural facilities in the building of the former nursery school. The Biblioteca de Catalunya will also be able to be enlarged and housed in spaces now unoccupied and others used currently by social organisations. The plan should also maintain the Jardinets dels Gats, the renovation of the former nursery school at a cost of 3.6 million euros, and the renovation of the cloister and the façade of the site.

Revamp of Pl. Doctor Fleming and work at La Boqueria

In parallel, February should see the start of the revamp to Pl. Doctor Fleming and Pl. Gardunya itself, which will get new urban furniture, new paving and a children’s play area with a sandpit and play elements. The work will improve 4,635 square metres of public space at a cost of 1.8 million euros and should be completed at the end of the summer of 2026.

At the Mercat de la Boqueria, work is already in progress on the remodelling agreement with stallholders and market operators, the aim being to start the revamp in 2025. The project should entail a minimum investment of 12 million euros, in parallel to the major transformation of La Rambla.

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