What is left of the old Mercedes factory, in Sant Andreu, could have been demolished – this was the initial idea – and the resulting huge site filled with warehouses, probably logistics, as happens almost everywhere. The site could also have become a new neighborhood with homes, streets and squares in use, if it had been reclassified for this purpose. But it hasn't been like that. Neither one nor the other. These buildings, disused since 2007, will remain standing and will be the most prominent pieces of a new eco-district where you can live and also work and study, in an environment that is as kind to the environment as possible. With almost nine hectares of surface and 185,000 buildable m2, it will be the largest in Spain and one of the largest in Europe, of a similar size to the B01 in the Swedish city of Malmö, one of the main continental references in this type of 'areas.
Mercedes' transformation is about to take shape on the ground. After a long planning process with arduous negotiations between the property - Conren Tramway - and the Barcelona City Council, and with the misgivings of some neighboring neighbors who consider the project excessive, the first works are expected before the end of the 'year. It will be a university center, Elisava, dedicated to design and engineering, which will leave its current headquarters on La Rambla. The change will allow him to gain space in a former industrial property that is related to his activity. It will have 2,000 students and 500 teachers. The prior building permit has already been requested. The developer's commitment is to deliver the property on a long-term rental basis in the first quarter of 2026.
This talent campus of 13,000 m2 will be the cornerstone for a new activity hub dedicated to the new Industry 4.0, for which 51,700 m2 with capacity for 3,500 workers are planned, divided between the renovated warehouses of the old site and a new office complex.
"We will speed up the transformation as much as we can", says Paco Hugas, co-CEO of Conren Tramway, convinced that Mercedes will mark a first and second in Barcelona. "It will be a mixed-use project with a lot of personality, as we maintain the industrial past and adapt it to the present and future reality," he adds. He also points out that the intention is for his activity to "unite the polygons of Besòs". The promoters have taken ideas from successful urban regenerations such as that of the Renault factory in Paris, that of the Bonne de Grenoble, which housed military barracks, or that of the King's Cross factory area in London.
While waiting for the Generalitat to give the final green light to the modification of the General Metropolitan Plan (PGM) that the City Council has already approved - it is expected to do so between this month and September - the urbanization project is already being drafted and working in the rezoning. The idea is to have all this planning ready before Easter next year to activate the various works from then on. All the homes – 1,300 have been planned, most of them for rent and 40% affordable, for a total of 3,250 residents – should be finished between 2027 and 2028, at the same time as the spaces public At the same time, the facilities must be built, most of them municipal, some in buildings that will be rehabilitated and others in new construction. Between 2028 and 2029, the office complex, the last part of the complex, will be built.
The owners and the architectural office that commissioned the transformation, Batlleiroig, came to the conclusion that it was worth preserving a large part of the factory buildings despite not being protected. The main part corresponds to the set that Robert Terradas designed in 1951 for the then Empresa Nacional de Motores de Aviación, S.A (Enmasa), which was completed in 1957 and is one of the most outstanding examples of rationalist architecture in Catalonia. An addition from the seventies will also be preserved, which is precisely where Elisava will be located. The City Council has started the process to include these buildings in the catalog of the city's architectural heritage.
"The original factory was inspired by the first Bauhaus and we want the whole space to now be linked to the New European Bauhaus, focused on sustainability and the response to the climate emergency", emphasizes Enric Batlle, founding partner of Batlleiroig, which emphasizes that the city "regenerates itself from a pre-existing industrial site that has become obsolete". Not only the buildings will be reused, but also the materials from the demolitions and the water. A radical bet will be made for energy savings and self-generation, for active mobility, on foot or by bike... "What makes the transformation of Mercedes unique is that we have synthesized different sustainable strategies in a single project of large scale", adds Clemens Hoerter, technical director of Conren Tramway.
The demolitions that have taken place will be treated with a circular economy perspective. "The material has accumulated in a mountain that can become aggregates of new concrete for pavements, facades, urban furniture... It is about doing the entire recycling process in the same area, applying a zero kilometer criterion to avoid extraction to other places and transport", explains Hoerter. This initiative is part of the European Circ-Boost project.
The area has been configured as if it were a super-block, closed to motorized traffic. "Now the cities are being asked for car-free spaces," recalls Batlle. Vehicles will access the car parks through the perimeter roads. The interior will be arranged in two major axes for pedestrians who will cross, taking advantage of the pre-existing structure of the site. They will connect, on the one hand, the Bon Pastor neighborhood with the old town of Sant Andreu, the new Rodalies station and the future linear park. And on the other, the Maquinista area, which is also planned to be expanded with new homes, with the Torrent de l'Estadella industrial estate. 50% of the surface will be buildable and the other 50% free, with public areas and roads for people.
The jewel of the Mercedes is the central nave. In this enormous space, Batlleiroig will take biophilia, the naturalization of urban spaces that characterizes many of his projects, to a higher level. The metal structure will remain, the roof will be opened - part of it will be covered with photovoltaic panels - and everything will be filled with vegetation. Thus, a large public square of 11,400 m2 will be created connected with passages below the neighboring buildings, which will provide another 2,200 m2 of open space.
The design of the spaces, designed for sustainable mobility, the commitment to green and the use of materials with greater insulation capacity will create an "island of coolness" that is expected to lower the temperature by three degrees compared to its neighborhoods environment on the hottest days.
Water management is another innovative element, key in times of persistent droughts like the current one. It is common for rainwater to be lost through the sewer. Here it will be retained to be reused, mainly for irrigation. In addition, the use of porous pavements will facilitate infiltration, following the sponge-city concept. Also, gray water reuse systems will be installed in the buildings.
Energy will also receive special treatment. In addition to applying nearly zero designs, as efficient as possible, to all properties, self-sufficiency will be sought through the establishment of an energy community. Electricity will be produced with photovoltaic panels on the roofs of the buildings and in the central square, and cold and heat will be generated through a power plant that could be geothermal. Overall, with the active and passive measures planned, the savings will be close to 50%.
