The Campus Diagonal-Besòs forms a compact, carefully designed urban unit, located on a privileged site at the intersection of the streets La Diagonal and La Ronda. It is incorporated into the spectacular and varied development of the public city of the Foro area. The Residents Hall wants to play its particular role as a “social centre” of this Campus.  A place with large community facilities and a pleasant place for a diverse population of students, guest professors and researchers. The contours of the site are clearly defined along the alignment of several buildings on both sides of the emblematic wooden central deck. It is this wooden deck that brilliantly symbolizes what this campus wants to be: a harvest of knowledge and the exchange of ideas, education and research for students, professors and researchers, in a contemporary, open and pleasant environment, looking towards a promising and sustainable future.

The Resident Hall takes, due to its determined function, a particular role among the buildings on the Campus. It is the only building that will be permanently inhabited. Therefore, it aims for an expression that underlines coexistence with a hint of informality. The generous covered entrance area is an extension of the wooden deck, which takes the resident and visitor towards the internal functions of the building with elegance. The view throughout the site towards the garden beside the street intensifies this welcoming gesture.

The building is conceived around a central open space. This courtyard invites the overwhelming and crystalline daylight to enter, the light Barcelona is so well known for. The repetitive juxtaposition of the student residence units extends throughout the courtyard, forming an introspective green space for a pleasant and peaceful coexistence among its residents, protected from the noisy Ronda Litoral street. The courtyard reaches level -1, offering extra qualitative spaces for community use such as a gym, multipurpose rooms, multimedia rooms and a garden.

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Source: archdaily

Pictures by Aldo Amoretti