Àltima Sant Andreu Funeral Home, Nou Barris / Batlleiroig

Architects: Batlleiroig
Area: 1064 m²
Year: 2022
Photography: DEL RIO BANI
Lead Architects: Enric Batlle Durany, Joan Roig i Duran, Albert Gil Margalef, Helena Salvadó Giné, Anna Lloret Papaseit
Architecture Team: Maria Comas Giménez, Manuel Pedraz Salas, Paula Lladonosa Farré, Marc Ruiz Llorente, Livia Valentini, Laura Florentín Aragón
Landscape: Joan Batlle Blay
Technical Architect: Diana Calicó Soler, Marc Torrella Mayol, Gemma Ramon Mestre, Carolina Valero Ramos
Agricultural and Environmental Engineer: Yago Cavaller Galí
Structure: BIS Structures
Installations: JSS
Builders: VOPI4
Program: Funeral Home
Clients: Áltima, Elysius Europa
City: Barcelona
Country: Spain

In the heart of Barcelona, Batlleiroig Architects have unveiled the Áltima Sant Andreu – Nou Barris Funeral Home, a modern structure adjacent to Sant Andreu Cemetery, designed to integrate seamlessly into the historical context. The architectural endeavor promotes green urban integration, enhances pedestrian connectivity, and respects the existing landscape through its innovative design and materiality. The project, characterized by its sustainable and environmentally conscious approach, showcases exposed brickwork, natural light-enhanced courtyards, and a commitment to biodiversity with extensive vegetation and renewable energy systems. This new funeral home stands as a testament to the thoughtful and responsive architecture that defines Batlleiroig’s approach, aiming to serve the community while honoring the site’s heritage and ecological significance.

Àltima sant andreu funeral home, nou barris / batlleiroig — Àltima Sant Andreu Funeral Home, Nou Barris / Batlleiroig 29

The newly established Funeral Home Áltima Sant Andreu – Nou Barris serves as a facility for both districts adjacent to the Sant Andreu cemetery. The design was envisioned to integrate with the historical context, enhancing and articulating a network of green spaces.

The architectural proposal focuses on promoting sustainable mobility by enhancing existing and future pedestrian routes and facilitating connections through a network of green spaces. The building lays the foundation for future adaptations and connections of open spaces, fostering neighborhood mobility.

The design respects and enhances the local environment by integrating material compatibility with the cemetery’s perimeter wall, turning brick into a unifying element of the new complex, which includes the funeral home and cemetery.

The funeral home seeks to dignify the deteriorating Masia de Can Valent by creating a new complex that dialogues with existing and new elements, fostering unity and a shared architectural language.

Urban integration and materiality are dominated by exposed brickwork and a green roof. The building attaches to the cemetery’s perimeter wall and is shaped into simple volumes that respect the regularity of its surroundings.

The building’s envelope uses eco-manual brick to create affinity with existing materials, adjusting the bond patterns to meet specific needs. The facade balances privacy with openness in public areas to enhance natural light penetration through large-sized lattices.

Interior courtyards are strategically placed to enhance natural light and improve indoor space quality through biophilia. A latticework system facilitates the funeral home’s public access, while technical areas are discreetly located near the cemetery wall.

The interior layout and light control feature a ramp covered with vines for building access, which is structured solely on the ground floor. Public spaces are accessible via a longitudinal hall.

The facility includes four viewing rooms, each with a toilet, a waiting room, and a room for the catafalque. These spaces receive natural light from courtyards, and materials like exposed concrete, bronze, and oak wood create a sober yet welcoming atmosphere.

The chapel, a central feature, is a hexagonal room with an inclined concrete floor and oak wood-clad walls. It features suspended luminaires and a marble altar, opening up to a triangular patio with a Ginkgo Biloba tree, symbolizing life and renewal.

The project emphasizes biodiversity and sustainability, incorporating vegetation in all outdoor areas and aiming for energy self-sufficiency through passive systems like solar radiation-filtering lattices and cross-ventilation, complemented by photovoltaic panels for renewable energy production.