Awards for Excellence: 2004 Winner

Diagonal Mar
Barcelona, Spain

Once the site of a decaying, 34-hectare (84-acre) industrial zone on the Mediterranean Sea, Diagonal Mar today is a bustling mixed-use development that has become the most sought-after residential, retail, office, and hotel site in the city of Barcelona. To develop the site, which represented half of the city’s remaining seafront, developer Hines Interests España worked closely with the Barcelona Town Hall. The developer and the municipality signed Spain’s first-ever public/private sustainability agreement, which governed the project’s design, construction, and operation. Hines’s dual goals were to complete the urban beachfront regeneration begun in 1987 for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games by connecting the surrounding neighborhoods to the sea, and to develop a project that could be used as an example of sustainable development throughout the world.

Sustainable development principles—which include balancing human and natural needs and resources, respecting the interdependence of natural systems as well as biological and cultural diversity, and promoting social equity and diversity—were incorporated throughout Diagonal Mar. Building placements optimize sunlight in winter and air circulation in summer to reduce energy consumption; most of the material excavated from the site was reused as on-site landfill; porous pavements minimize stormwater runoff; native plants are used throughout to minimize the need for irrigation and pesticides; no exotic woods and minimal polyvinyl chlorides (PVCs) have been used; all buildings incorporate rainwater collection systems for garden irrigation and solar water preheating systems; all swimming pools are heated by solar panels; and most garbage is collected by a pneumatic waste collection system incorporated into the base of each building.

Diagonal Mar now contains a super regional retail and entertainment center, three hotels with a total of 950 rooms, three Class A office buildings, and many apartments. At the core of the project is the 17-hectare (42-acre) Parc Diagonal Mar, a public park and greenway featuring three lakes, sculptural pergolas, and play areas. The project has opened the city to the sea and spawned the development of an entirely new neighborhood. It also has given Barcelona Town Hall sufficient political power to complete Avenida Diagonal—the most important avenue in the city—and to create a new port, a convention center, and an auditorium on the seafront. Equally important, Diagonal Mar is a notable example of successful sustainable development.

“Diagonal Mar posed an exciting challenge to Hines when we acquired the site in 1996,” notes Edouard Fernández, general manager, Hines Interests España. “The site was cut off from the rest of the city, had a historically heavy industrial use, and was located next to the poorest neighborhood in Barcelona. We wanted to create a unique space that offered exclusive residential, retail, and office amenities, but still respected the Spanish tradition of socioeconomic integration. The former brownfield site turned award-winning development is now a thriving community, one that not only caters to all strata of society but that also has ignited the revitalization of an entire city district.”

Development Team

Owner/Developer
Hines Interests
Barcelona, Spain
www.hines.com

Additional Owners
Habitat
Barcelona, Spain

Espais
Barcelona, Spain

Apex
Madrid, Spain

Deka Immobilien
Frankfurt, Germany
www.deka-immobilien.de

DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG
Hamburg, Germany
www.difa.de

Architects
Robert A.M. Stern Architects
New York, New York
www.ramsa.com

EDAW, Inc.
Atlanta, Georgia
www.edaw.com

Tusquets Díaz & associates
Barcelona, Spain

BST
Barcelona, Spain

Muñoz + Albin
Houston, Texas
www.munozalbin.com

Meeks + Partners
Houston, Texas
www.kaufmanmeeks.com

Carlos Ferrater
Barcelona, Spain
www.ferrater.com

Clotet y Paricio
Barcelona, Spain

GCA Arquitectes Associats
Barcelona, Spain
www.gcaarq.com

Project Data

Web Site: www.diagonalmar.com

Site Area: 34 hectares (84 acres)

Gross Building Area: 375,483 square meters (4 million square feet)

Land Uses (at buildout): A 17-hectare (42-acre) public park; a 100,500-square-meter (1.1 million-square-foot) super regional shopping center; 1,400 apartments in five independent phases; three hotels with 950 rooms totaling more than 58,000 square meters (624,306 square feet); three Class A office buildings; and associated infrastructure

Completion Dates: Shopping center (Diagonal Mar Centre), November 2001; park (Parc Diagonal Mar), July 2002. All hotels, offices, and the retail center have been sold to end users. The final two residential phases are scheduled for completion in January 2005 and June 2006.