Work gets under way to renovate the Sant Pau social gym and build social housing
The building, over 80 years old and located in Ronda de Sant Pau, will be used to build 36 homes with affordable rents and new social gym facilities on the ground floor. The sports space will have the same goal of social cohesion and transformation through a non-profit cooperative.The first stage of the work, which includes the demolition of much of the structure and the façade, will take four months to complete. The new social gym and six floors of homes will then be built and should be ready in the summer of 2026.
The building will have 36 homes of one or two bedrooms, to house vulnerable families who have applied for social housing, supported by social organisations and paying rents in line with their incomes.
The project is possible thanks to a public-private agreement between the City Council, which owns the land, and the company Coyocan, which will construct the building and own it for 55 years, the Gimnàs Social Sant Pau SCCL and the Fundació Hàbitat3, with the latter to manage the housing.
Sant Pau social gym
The new gym will maintain the same social purpose of improving people’s quality of life, offering a space where everybody can engage in sport in equal conditions.
The new facilities of more than 700 square metres will include a swimming pool, a jacuzzi, a room for directed activities, a multi-purpose fitness space, a café and a social centre, changing rooms, bathrooms, a sick bay and a laundry.