Recovery of the Old Gypsum Mines of Igualada

Igualada, Barcelona, Spain

Photo © Jordi Surroca

Drawing © Batlle | Roig Architectes

Parks + Open Spaces

Architects: Batlle | Roig Architects

Location: Igualada, Barcelona, Spain
Year: 2018
Client: Igualada City Council
Team: Enric Batlle, Joan Roig, Iván Sánchez, Mario Súñer, Simone Cicu
Structural Engineering: Static
Builder: Constructora Moix Serveis i Obres

The work is framed within the global project of the Igualada’s Green Ring, which aims at creating a set of pedestrian and bicycle itineraries in the form of a green belt on the perimeter of the city. The natural space through which the path passes has a highly degraded state. It was subjected to intense extractive activity of existing plaster in its subsoil (Guixeres of the Claret and Pelfort). Afterwards, once this activity ceased, the area was used as a municipal waste transfer station.

The project has two main objectives: one of connectivity, achieving the continuity of this global green ring recognizing the main visuals about the city and Montserrat mountain, and generating a sequence of areas of stay; and a second of landscape and biodiversity recovery, establishing the necessary elements to generate a new dynamic in the place that progressively improves its environmental conditions through the profit of water.