Esplugues begins the large towers that will preside over the entrance to Diagonal

The Finestrelles sector, in Esplugues de Llobregat, next to the border with Barcelona, ​​begins its last phase, corresponding to the business and services park, known as Porta Diagonal.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
26 March 2023 Sunday 21:45
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Esplugues begins the large towers that will preside over the entrance to Diagonal

The Finestrelles sector, in Esplugues de Llobregat, next to the border with Barcelona, ​​begins its last phase, corresponding to the business and services park, known as Porta Diagonal. This area stands out for its two large towers almost one hundred meters high. The works of the first, the closest to the Catalan capital and which will be a hotel, are about to begin and those of the second, which will be used as offices, will do so this year. Your license is pending. The developers, Sacresa and Emesa, will invest around 250 million euros in this complex, which they plan to have ready in 2026.

Porta Diagonal involves the development of 90,000 square meters of roof next to the B-23 and the Ronda de Dalt. Some 47,000 will be for offices, 4,200 for shops on the ground floor, including catering spaces to serve park users and the surrounding population, 34,000 for hotels, aparthotels and/or student residences, and 4,500 for public facilities. Some 7,000 people are expected to work or stay at this complex.

The Esplugues City Council wants to configure a new metropolitan centrality thanks to the strategic location of this development. The expected arrival of metro line 3 and its proximity to the Sant Joan de Déu hospital, which will have a building in the complex, and, in the future, the Clínic, which will move to the grounds of the sports courts of the Universitat de Barcelona, ​​positions this enclave in a special way for companies and organizations related to health. In addition, the universities of Barcelona and Politècnica de Catalunya have campuses very close.

The two towers are called to be architectural icons at the entrance to Barcelona through the Diagonal, which in a way they will preside over. They will be 96 meters high, 23 floors and 20,950 square meters of roof each. They will stand out for their exterior with two of their four faces populated with vegetation. "They will be quite visible, the same but different because one will be rotated 90 degrees with respect to the other, creating a certain asymmetry," explains Enric Batlle, founding partner of Batlleiroig, the firm that, together with GCA Architects, has drawn up the projects for the area. “Instead of making them out of glass – he continues – they will have terraces and outdoor spaces around the entire perimeter; the hotel will look at the Diagonal and the offices at Montjuïc”. Both will be crowned by large rooftop-viewpoints from which there will be spectacular views of Barcelona, ​​Baix Llobregat, the sea and Collserola.

The presence of green will not be limited to the two main buildings, it will extend throughout the complex. It is a biophilic conception that, in addition to providing quality to users, makes visible the highest standards of environmental sustainability that the complex will have and the connection it seeks with the natural environment, Collserola, which is just a few meters away.

The green areas will total 18,000 square meters, distributed in 15,300 public and 2,700 private for public use. The urbanization is structured in a succession of squares starting from Avenida Països Catalans –where the bike lane that connects Diagonal with Esplugues already passes– which, at different levels, follow the profile of the mountain. The largest, in the lowest area, open to Ahrensburg avenue, will be the meeting space for the buildings, the two towers and the other four buildings behind. "The idea is that activities can be held - Batlle details -, for this it will have a green amphitheater with outdoor stands."

One of the buildings in the complex, measuring 6,500 square meters and valued at 14.3 million euros, will be transferred, turnkey, by the developers to the City Council in application of what was agreed in 2019 in the renewal of the agreement with the owners, which also included the payment to the municipality of 4.6 million with which it finances the construction of subsidized housing in the area south of the B-23, next to the Finestrelles shopping center, which have already been raffled off and are being running.

"We have been working on this project for a long time, which adds value to Esplugues and the entire metropolitan area", highlights the mayoress, Pilar Díaz, who also values ​​the search for a "balance between a good offer of industrial and business land, equipment and quality of life for our neighbours, which in the end is turning out to be the best formula for attracting talent”.

The Innovation and Health Biocluster promoted by Esplugues and L'Hospitalet may receive a boost with this complex. The objective, says Díaz, is "to create an ecosystem that turns our territory into a European benchmark in health." The first step will be taken by Sant Joan de Déu, which will locate a center for research and treatment of minority childhood diseases in one of the buildings on Porta Diagonal, with an area of ​​4,800 square meters expandable to 7,500, within the framework of the Únicas project, which leads, and in which Catalan, Spanish and European hospitals participate. The forecast is that the works, which will have financing from European Next Generation funds, will begin this year.