The new public space takes the richness of the current vegetation cover as one of the most interesting values to enhance the current interior of the island, to define it as a true Garden of the Mediterranean. The Zona Franca neighborhood is one of the neighborhoods with the highest presence of green in Barcelona, which recommends maintaining connectivity between free spaces, as the authentic green infrastructure of the city. The project is based on the priority premise of ensuring that the new space can be visited in all directions, through all levels and in an accessible way for all users.
The initial diagonal layout allows us to delimit two main areas of work: the upper level that is related to the buildings that make the facade with the Paseo de la Zona Franca, and the lower one that is related to the premises that are located at a depressed level and that absorbs the system of road connections required.
The upper level connects with the passage from Mare de Déu del Port in two ways: through an inclined plane, fully accessible, bordering the façade line and through a unique light walkway that ends with a system of stairs and leads us to the access passage to the street of Alts Forns.
The lower level gains amplitude and is more friendly and flexiblely related to the upper section than the current solution. Direct connections are established to all passages. The accessible route, from the side of the Plaza de la Marina, becomes an inclined plane that comfortably accompanies you to the lower level, crossing below the walkway.
New plantations of trees have been arranged to replace the removed species. The surface area of the parterre has also been increased by more than 900m2, with resistant shrubby species, low height and little maintenance of irrigation, strengthening the direct visuals to the site.
