Project
Ravetllat Arquitectura
Parking in Les Hortes de Caldes de Montbui
Spain
Public plays
Image: Adrià Goula
Hortes de Caldes Parking and Sindicat Square. Project by RavetllatRibas

The intervention is located in an area that involves a more general reflection on the town and, specifically, on its urban facade in relation to the area known as "Pla de les Hortes" or "Hortes de Baix". This new façade has to make compatible the connection of pedestrians between the urban nucleus of the town, the new urbanized spaces and the same Orchards, located all at different heights.
The proposal aims to highlight the topography that characterizes the place. The morphology of the Huertas responds to the erosion created by the fluvial course of the Riera de Caldes. The torrent is located about twenty meters below city level resulting in a succession of platforms or terraces used as vegetable private gardens. The new parking wills to insert itself in this logic of platforms and become another terrace. That’s why a green roof is proposed, continuing in a more urban and educative way, with similar plantations to the ones already there. It was the aim to establish a better connection path between the new garden and the Church square, establishing an itinerary that runs parallel to the orchards’ limit.
From the outside, the parking lot configures the new urban façade towards the gardens and has been designed with a wall treatment that uses the same stone as the existing walls. Embedded in a gabion wall system, in addition to providing a certain transparency towards the garden landscape, it allows the natural air circulation of the parking lots.
In this way it is possible to enhance the orchards and their special relationship with the town of Caldes, preserving them and, above all, making their patrimonial and ecological value understandable.

Impact

The intervention not only manages to enhance the orchards and their special relationship with the Villa de Caldes and preserving them, but also allows to understand their heritage and ecological value.

The connection between the new square and the church square the project places benches and chairs of aluminum structure with wooden seat and backrest to be able to contemplate the panoramic landscape of Les Hortes. In the Sindicat Square, two different children's play areas have been designed with specialized material for different ages.

Along the pathway, a series of planters and gardens have been placed to allow the vegetation to be placed on the roof and to act educationally by indicating the planted flora. Different cultivated species, arranged thematically according to their use, recreate the environment of the gardens and organize a possible educational circuit with explanatory panels.

Ravetllat Arquitectura

AUTORS: Pere Joan Ravetllat, Carme Ribas

The study focuses mainly on public commissions with punctual experiences in the private sector. Projects are planned from the beginning from an urban point of view and surroundings relation, being the principal fields of work the rehabilitation of buildings, housing, public facilities and projects of urban space and infrastructures.

Its work has been published both national and international and it has been frequently awarded as a finalist or award-winning. Until 2017, his professional work has been conducted together with Carme Ribas Seix. Nowadays, Ravetllat arquitectura developes its professional work sharing the projects authorship with different members from the team.

Architectural practice
Spain