PROXIMA
The project for this new Funeral Home in Barcelona, located in the central neighborhood of Sants, is set within an existing building: the former Climent Brothers factory. This building was designed by architect Modest Feu i Estrada in 1925. With a distinctly Noucentista style, it is an example of industrial architecture built entirely of solid brick, featuring a unique roof structure of metal trusses and wooden beams.
As such, it is a historic, protected building that forms part of the catalogue of Cultural Assets of Local Interest (Béns Culturals d’Interès Local) of the Barcelona City Council.
The architectural proposal by Mirag stems from the premise of changing the use of the warehouse to construct the Sants – Eixample Funeral Home within it. The aim of the proposal is to respect the original architecture of the building as much as possible and to highlight its value by restoring the existing structure to its original state while proposing a new use that is as respectful as possible of its past.
The project’s strategy is to construct a building within a building. In this way, the existing industrial warehouse becomes a container for the new funeral home, with its wooden roof and trusses acting as a protective sky and becoming the true protagonists of the architectural proposal.
The new construction is arranged longitudinally along the warehouse, placing a corridor like a promenade parallel to the southern façade, through which natural light and sunlight enter. Moreover, this layout allows the full length and dimension of the warehouse to be appreciated and brings extraordinary warmth to the space.
