Winners of competitions for Fira de Barcelona revamp

18/03/2025

2029 Artefacto

The winners of the three competitions that have been held for the renovation of the Fira de Barcelona – as part of the first phase of the overall revamp of the Montuïc trade-fair grounds – have been announced. The jury – chaired by Josep Lluís Mateo and including María Langarita, Maria Goula, Joan Olona, and Joan Lluís Zamora – selected them out of a pool of schemes submitted by the fifteen shortlisted teams.

Construction works on this initial phase are to begin early in 2026 and be completed in 2029, in time for the celebrations of the Centenary of the 1929 International Exposition. The planned investment is 255 million euros.

2029 Artefacto

1. Multifunctional Hall (2029 Artefacto)

For the proposal ‘2029 Artefacto,’ the team comprising Smiljan Radić, Miquel Mariné Núñez, Beatriz Borque, and César Rueda Bonet landed the bid for the construction of the new Multifunctional Hall and the renovation of the current Palau de les Comunicacions.

The Multifunctional Hall, to go up on the current spot of the Palau de Congressos de Barcelona and Hall 4, will consist of a two-story building containing a total of 20,500 square msters of exhibition space. The project includes creating a large landscaped walkway of over 2,000 square meters to join both pavilions on the facade toward Avinguda María Cristina.

This first lot also involves the preliminary architectural project to renovate the Palau de les Comunicacions (Hall 1), to be developed in a second phase. The renovation wil ensure an aesthetic link and continuity between the two buildings.

2029 Artefacto

Umbracle

2. Palau de Congressos (Umbracle)

The ‘Umbracle’ scheme drawn up by Forgas Arquitectes, Archambac (Arquitectura Sideral), and Álvaro Fernández García has been selected for materialization as the new Palau de Congressos de Barcelona within the present Palau Alfons XIII. It respects the original structure of the hall designed by Josep Puig i Cadalfach, creating a series of spaces that includes a new entrance from Plaça de Carles Büigas, through a foyer and a 6,670-square-meter courtyard-garden. There will also be a 3,132-square-meter exhibition hall, an auditorium seating 2,025 people, and several multipurpose and meeting rooms.

The new building will be self-sufficient in energy terms, with consumption reduced by highly efficient services and power-producing photovoltaic, aerothermal, and geothermal systems. Rainwater will be stored in a tank.

Umbracle

L’Avantsala de la Fira

3. Fira Innovation Hub (L’Avantsala de la Fira)

Finally, for ‘L’Avantsala de la Fira’ Bjarke Ingels Group and MIAS Arquitectura have won the third lot, focused on renovating the Palau del Vestit to harbor the Fira Barcelona Innovation Hub. The trade institution’s future permanent innovation center, to rise three floors, will adopt a Z shape surrounded by landscaped spaces open to the public. The current facade facing the Plaça d’Espanya, with its suite of columns, will become an entryway into the gardens.

The new facility will combine the original designs of Josep Puig i Cadafalch and Josep Maria Jujol with modern structures thought out to accommodate flexible and connected workspaces, meeting rooms, an auditorium for an audience of more than 200, and a new facade on Gran Vía shaped like sawteeth and crowned by skylights.

In a second phase, programmed for the period 2029-2035, a new architectural competition will be launched for an executive project for the remodeling of the Palau de les Comunicacions (Hall 1) and the Palau de la Metallúrgia (Hall 8). In this way, trade-fair activities can continue on the premises throughout the transformation process.