The former Besòs thermal power plant, which has been out of service since 2011, will be transformed into a true city landmark with the creation of a hub dedicated to the digital economy and creative industries. The intervention reappraises the site’s industrial heritage as a defining element of its identity and makes it the centrepiece of a new audiovisual cluster with ambitions to become the leading hub in southern Europe.
The project is part of the Catalunya Media City strategy promoted by the Government of Catalonia, designed to establish a key business and technology hub in the Barcelona metropolitan area. The complex is designed to house audiovisual companies, innovative initiatives and cultural activities linked to digital production, further strengthening the Besòs area’s role as an innovation corridor. The winning project, E la nave va (The Ship Sails On), was designed by the Garcés de Seta Bonet architectural practice and MARVEL.
The proposal preserves the three 200-metre-high chimneys, which are the most iconic elements of the industrial complex. Their preservation not only ensures the continuity of their value as a heritage asset but also reinforces their role as a visual and symbolic landmark on the metropolitan landscape. Now part of a new development, the chimneys act as a landmark that defines the area’s new visual identity and provides a recognisable reference point for the new urban and audiovisual hub.
With a total area of 22,600 m², the former turbine hall will be transformed into a hybrid infrastructure that will host innovative projects and cultural activities associated with audiovisual production. The building will house sound stages, digital labs, technical workshops, business incubators and applied research units and offer creative residencies. It will also have an auditorium and a large open-plan hall with a floor space of 5,600 m² for events, screenings and immersive experiences. The intervention will adapt the complex to current standards of energy efficiency and functionality with state-of-the-art audiovisual infrastructure, including sound stages, virtual studios and flexible filming spaces.
Els Ulls de la Història (The Eyes of History): The complex will also be home to a unique cultural amenity designed to preserve the memory of the industrial past of the complex. It is an initiative of the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia in collaboration with the Besòs Consortium. VR resources, interactive content and historical reconstructions will enable visitors to engage with the site’s industrial history, the role of energy in the region’s development and the workers’ struggles that took place there. The aim is to recover the memory of the site and reinterpret it through a contemporary lens, giving the Tres Xemeneies a renewed contemporary identity.
The project includes spaces for startups, scaleups and research and development (R&D) centres, creating an environment geared towards innovation and business growth. In this way, the hub goes beyond its role as an audiovisual production facility to establish itself as a comprehensive economic ecosystem capable of incorporating the different phases of the sector’s value chain. At the same time, a strategic focus on training and developing talent is promoted through the creation of specialised facilities – including audiovisual vocational training and university programmes – directly linked to audio-visual production. The aim is to create a complete ecosystem where production, research, talent and entrepreneurship coexist, creating jobs and establishing the Besòs area as a new, long-term innovation hub.
New public spaces, pedestrian routes and seafront connections will be created to integrate the site into the surrounding urban fabric. This opening-up of the complex will be complemented by a varied programme of cultural activities – including screenings and community events open to everyone – reinforcing the hub’s character as a vibrant, accessible space closely linked to its social and urban context.
