The Consorci del Besòs has put out to tender the first urban planning action that will be carried out in the architectural complex of the Tres Xemeneies of Santa Adrià de Besòs, to adapt the space to the celebration of the Manifesta nomadic festival, which has chosen the old thermal power plant as one of the locations of the activities to be held between September and November of this 2024. The works, basically to improve accessibility and security, will be used in the future to install the Audiovisual and Video Game Digital Hub, the epicenter of the urban transformation of the coastline.
The entity of Besòs, made up of the City Councils of Barcelona, Badalona, Sant Adrià de Besòs, Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Montcada i Reixac, as well as the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona and the Generalitat de Catalunya, has tendered the work related to the adaptation project part of the turbine building of the Besòs thermal power station for the Catalunya Media City project, for an amount of 1,851,294.44 euros.
The assignment includes defining and delimiting the available spaces in a part of the industrial building to develop sporadic artistic and cultural activities, such as the Manifesta 15 festival, although respecting the degree of heritage protection as a Cultural Asset of Local Interest (BCIL) and proposing the creation of new entrances and exits, some permanent and others temporary.
The Manifesta Festival, also known as the Nomad Biennial, is a pan-regional European contemporary cultural event that rethinks the relationships between culture and society by investigating positive social change in Europe, through contemporary culture, through dialogue with social sphere of a specific place, in this case the metropolitan area of Barcelona. Since 1996 the event has been held every two years in a European city. This year, Barcelona City Council and ten metropolitan municipalities won the call to host the 2024 Manifesta Festival, choosing the old Besòs thermal power plant as one of the event centers.
A report commissioned from the company Cotca SA, in June 2023, after analyzing the structure and closures of the plant, considers the state of the building acceptable. Currently, all of the thermal plant's facilities have been dismantled, with the exception of the constructions of the three protected chimneys and the turbine room.
The biennial will be held in three regions of Catalonia: the Besòs River, the Llobregat Delta and the Serra de Collserola. The activities will be present in several metropolitan cities such as Badalona, Cornellà, Granollers, l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Mataró, el Prat, Sabadell, Sant Cugat, Terrassa, Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Sant Adrià de Besòs.
The urban adaptation action will affect a 4,585 m2 space on the Endesa site where public access will be enabled. The work consists of adapting a part of the interior space of the turbine hall, where number three was located, and on the other hand, the adaptation of the accesses and exits with security guarantees according to the planned activity.
The space will have a perimeter fence that will allow the closure of the premises and the main access will be located on Eduard Maristany Avenue, so the current wall will have to be demolished. The emergency exit will be placed in the part closest to the coast. Access will be through a solidified sablon path that will be dominated by new lighting, as well as the facades of the nave.
As for the building, which has four levels and a semi-underground floor, the existing stairs and an interior walkway that crosses over the loading dock will be used. The electric elevator of the old plant, which has a capacity for 15 people, will be reactivated.
During the adaptation for cultural uses, several open spaces will be covered to achieve the maximum horizontal surface while several concrete pilasters and brick walls will be demolished. The rest of the holes will be protected with railings. The very battered pavements will be renewed and new ones will be built over the holes and the walkway.
