Biblioteca/CRAI de la Ciutadella – Edifici del Dipòsit de les Aigües, Barcelona, Spain

Name of the Library: Biblioteca/CRAI de la Ciutadella – Edifici del Dipòsit de les Aigües
Parent Organisation: Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Street Address: Ramon Trias Fargas 25-27
Postal Address:00005 Barcelona
Telephone : + 34 93 542 1709
Web Address: http://www.upf.edu/bibtic
Library Email: crai.ciutadella@upf.edu

Type of Library: Central/ Main Library
Population served: Universitat Pompeu Fabra community
Project Type: Conversion , Refurbishment
Size (square metres):14.850 m2
Date of Completion: 2003
Architect
– Josep Fontseré (1874, original building)
– Lluís Clotet and Ignacio Paricio (1992,  conversion project)

Description
The Dipòsit de les Aigües is a building designed in the late nineteenth century to contain 10,000 tons of water on the top and outside, at a height of 14 meters above the ground. It was used to irrigate and supply water to the cascade of the adjacent Ciutadella Park. The interior of the building, elaborated as a large forest of columns and arches, had no specific purpose when it was designed.
The conversion as a Library space was based on these principles:
• maintain the appearance and structure of the original building, gaining surface with the creation of a mezzanine floor
• increase exterior lighting by opening skylights in the ceiling
• combine the modern equipment and facilities result of the conversion with the original quality of the building.
This combination of features makes the Dipòsit de les Aigües an ideal space for concentration and individual work for our users.

Awards, case studies, further information
2009 Década Price (Oscar Tusquets Foundation) for the best architectural works built in Barcelona 10 years after its Implementation
Magre, Anna. From a Reservoir Building to the Main Library of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.  Liber Quarterly, vol 10 (2000), No 2, p. 266-278
Building history

 

 

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