Sala Beckett - Project
- Winner of The Architectural Review ‘New into Old’ awards 2019
- Special Mention at the Spanish Architecture Awards 2017
- Finalist at ENOR Awards 2017
- Catalunya Construction Prize for Integrated Project Management 2017
- Finalist at FAD National Architecture Award 2017
- Nomination at EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2017
- Barcelona City Prize 2016 in Architecture
- Living - Spaces Simon Prize of architecture 2016
Visiting the abandoned building of the old ‘Cooperativa Paz y Justicia’ for the competition of the new Sala Beckett was like entering a time tunnel, taking us back to the moment where it was used as a meeting place, small theatre, public house and a place for gatherings and parties.
A large majority of the decoration was still preserved in its walls, roof and floors, which helped us to understand the different occupations that once took place; flooring in hydraulic mosaic, doors and carpentry in wood with coloured glass, frames and rosettes in the rooms.
We found large defined spaces, a trait unusual for Barcelona were it not for its location in a part of the city with an industrial past, where the majority of buildings are warehouses and factories.
The dimension and structure of this cooperative was also that of an industrial warehouse, however, it was the decoration that converted this space into one for festivities. Despite being abandoned, we found a building whose walls were still loaded with history and emotions that the project could therefore incorporate.
We set out to recover for the new Sala Beckett a building that was present in the collective social memory of this neighbourhood, thus maintaining its spirit, and the vast collection of memories lodged in its spaces.
The Sala Beckett would reintegrate naturally into the cultural dynamics of its environment, and that the neighbours, many of whom had been members of the cooperative, could recognise themselves within it.
| Design and building supervision: | Flores & Prats Architects / Ricardo Flores and Eva Prats |
| Promoter: | Institut de Cultura de Barcelona + Fundació Sala Beckett |
| Competition: | January 2011 |
| Construction: | September 2014 – May 2017 |
| Opening: | November 2016 |
| Situation: | Pere IV 228, Poble Nou, Barcelona |
| Built area: | 2,923sqm |
| Budget: | 3.200.000 € |
| Program: | Rehabilitation of the former workers Cooperative Paz y Justicia in Poblenou Barcelona, as the new Sala Beckett / International Drama Centre, including two exhibition spaces, classrooms for reading and writing drama texts, offices, changing rooms for actors, and a bar-restaurant open to the neighbourhood. |
| Theatre and Stage Adviser: | Engineer Marc Comas |
| Acoustic Adviser: | Arau Acústica |
| Structure Adviser: | Architect Manuel Arguijo |
| Installations: | AJ Ingeniería |
| Collaborators: | Eirene Presmanes, Jorge Casajús, Micol Bergamo, Michelle Capatori, Emanuele Lisci, Cecilia Obiol, Francesca Tassi-Carboni, Nicola Dale, Adrianna Mas, Giovanna de Caneva, Michael Stroh, Maria Elorriaga, Pau Sarquella, Rosella Notari, Laura Bendixen, Francesca Baldessari, Marta Smektala, Ioanna Torcanu, Carlotta Bonura, Florencia Sciutto, Georgina Surià, Elisabet Fàbrega, Julián González, Valentina Tridello, Agustina Álvaro Grand, Monika Palosz, Shreya Dudhat, Jordi Papaseit, Judith Casas, Tomás Kenny, Filippo Abrami, Constance Lieurade, Iben Jorgensen, Lucía Gutiérrez, Gimena Álvarez, Agustina Bersier, Mariela Allievi, Toni Cladera, Clàudia Calvet, Iván Alcázar, Nina Andreatta, Jonny Pugh |
| Creation of ‘Paper Theatre’: | Soraya Smithson |