The site in question is the block delimited by Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Plaça de les Glòries and Carrer dels Encants Vells, giving onto the large Canòpia Urbana park on one side and the Mercat dels Encants on the other.

The public housing project is the biggest by the Barcelona Municipal Institute for Housing and Renovation (IMHAB) and the largest to be promoted by a city council in the whole country in recent years, second only to a project by the autonomous regional government in the Basque country.

The development will have 238 homes, 125 of them with protected rents and 113 with leaseholds. The flats are intended to provide housing for over 800 people:

• 128 three-bedroom homes
• 97 two-bedroom homes
• 13 one-bedroom homes

All the homes will be built taking into account the gender perspective: any spatial hierarchy will disappear, making way for spaces adapted to new family models and shared living. Kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms will get the same natural light and ventilation as the main areas, such as living rooms and bedrooms.

The project consists of four blocks of different heights, linked by three upper floors of housing and leaving an open space on the ground floor for the extension of a pedestrian route from Av. Diagonal to Els Encants. The block will also have two courtyards for local residents, which could be conditioned as leisure areas, spaces for children’s games, bike parking or other uses.

The project also stands out for its environmental strategy, which cuts the impact of the project through the use of a wooden structure for one of the blocks and passive measures to help meet the energy demands for heating and cooling the buildings. The blocks will also have green rooftops, mechanisms for recycling wastewater and solar panelling on the rooftop to generate renewable energy.

The following architects and studios have worked with the IMHAB to finalise the executive project:

• Cierto Estudio, formed by the young architects Marta Benedicto, Carlota de Gispert, Ivet Gasol, Anna Llonch, Lucía Millet and Clara Vidal, and by Franch Llonch
• The joint venture by Haz Arquitectes SLP, Bayona Valero Arquitectes Associats SLP, Cantallops Vicente Arquitectes and Ensenyat Tarrida Arquitectes SLP
• The joint venture by Pau Vidal and Estudio Vivas Arquitectes SCP
• SV60 Arquitectos