The Spanish lesson

London’s pitch to hold the Olympic Games in 2012 is not just an opportunity to stage the world’s biggest sporting event; it is also a means of regenerating a large and deprived part of east London. The city may not be favourite to win the games, but the combination of the Olympics and urban regeneration is one of its strongest points.

This mix of sport and urban renewal goes back only as far as the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. The Catalan capital broke with the tradition of tackling the Olympics on out-of-town sites. Instead, four brownfield areas were chosen, all lying close to the city centre and within 5 km of each other. The provision of two weeks’ accommodation for Olympic athletes was treated as secondary to the long-term regeneration of the city for its own people.

Barcelona council had been tackling urban regeneration projects for many years, but these proposals, particularly the Olympic Village, which contained nearly 2000 homes, were in a different league in terms of scale and complexity. As the Olympic organising committee’s chief executive, Josep Miquel Abad, put it: “It was hoped that the project would generate such a lot of energy that it would have enough force to overcome the previously insurmountable technical, administrative and financial problems.”

The city did not underestimate the task. The charismatic mayor, Pasqual Maragall, appointed the city’s former chief architect, Oriol Bohigas, to mastermind developments. Many activities were tackled simultaneously, from resiting a main railway terminal to ensuring high-quality Urban Design. Surprisingly, even 40 years of oppression under Franco’s dictatorship played a critical role. “During that time,” Maragall has written, “the city began thinking about its future in a way that was exhaustive and methodical, in urban development, the economy and culture. When democracy finally came, everything was to a certain extent prepared.”

One of the advantages of combining Olympic developments with regeneration was that other major projects that had no connection with sport could be drawn into the mix. As well as redeveloping four main sites, Barcelona increased its roads 15%, its sewers 17%, its green zones and beaches 78% and its ponds and fountains 268%.

Predictably, all this came at a cost. According to the council, the total pricetag was £4.6bn, of which £1.7bn was taken up by roadworks and transport links. The expense was shared between the public authorities (58%), private companies (28%) and income generated by the Olympic co-ordinating committee. Research by the Halifax bank puts the cost at £8.1bn, making it the most costly of the recent games – double that of Athens 2004 and three times Sydney 2000.

The result was that the Olympics – and the urban regeneration it kick-started – put Barcelona on the global map. At one level, it has become one of Europe’s prime tourist destinations. At another, it is habitually held up as a model of urban regeneration. It is the only place to win the UK’s Royal Gold Medal for Architecture – an award hitherto reserved for human beings. And last month, at the sustainable communities summit in Manchester, Lord Rogers, the chairman of the government’s urban task force, upbraided the ODPM for not emulating Barcelona in its approach to the Thames Gateway. About Barcelona, he said: “This once derelict port is now one of the most livable and visited cities in Europe, epitomising the sustainable live–work–leisure mix to which all modern cities aspire.”

URBAN REGENERATION SINCE 1992

Barcelona’s urban regeneration for the Olympic Games set a trend for the city that continues to this day.

• Barcelona Forum, an extravagant £220m visitor complex opened last year, was developed on brownfield seafront land 2 km north of the Olympic Village. To fill the complex, the city council created a global media event on the Olympic model though with nothing to do with sport. This was a star-studded conference “to promote sustainable development and peace”. The centre is booked up to 2010.
• In Poblenou, inland from Barcelona Forum and the Olympic Village, a £10bn regeneration project is under way, based around high-tech industries.
• A £600m high-speed train project is being built to link Barcelona and Madrid. The station in Poblenou will come with a transport interchange, offices, housing and leisure.

OLYMPIC VILLAGE

What was developed for the Olympics?

The Olympic Village was built to accommodate 15,000 Olympic athletes and their colleagues, together with other facilities. A 53 ha site was designated in the rundown industrial area of Poblenou, which lies just north of the historic city centre and close to the seafront.

Eight years before the games, a masterplan was commissioned from two of the city’s foremost architects, Martorell Bohigas Mackay and Albert Puigdomènech. Individual buildings were designed by a spread of 19 international architects and undertaken by nine private developers. The total cost of the village was £1bn, or 22% of total Olympic expenditure; the public sector paid 42% and the private 58%. The village comprises:

The general opinion is an overwhelming impression of a higher quality of living than in the rest of the city

David mackay, resident

• 1983 dwellings grouped in 12 blocks of about 200 dwellings; there are 4000 parking spaces
• Sports marina
• High-rise luxury hotel and office block
• Two shopping centres, health centre , parish church, sports centre and shops.
• Railway lines and a station were relocated away from the seafront and replaced by a 10-lane ring road and two underground stations. New sewers and drains were installed.
• 4.5 km of new beaches along with a continuous seafront promenade park.

How was it adapted?

Jordi Carbonell, the deputy director of the Olympic Village, summed up the development approach: “The useful life of the village is hundreds of times greater than its timespan as an athletes’ residence.” Such forward planning kept adaptations after the games to a minimum.

• The interiors of housing were adapted to house 8000 residents, about half the number of athletes accommodated during the games. Bedrooms were converted into living rooms and kitchens. The two bathrooms in each dwelling, provided to avoid morning congestion during the games, were left as they were, as were the oversized bedrooms provided for oversized athletes.

How has it stood up?

• All buildings and hard landscaping show remarkably little wear and tear. However, David Mackay, the village’s original architect and a resident since 1994, reports “poor quality finishes and some severe problems of water penetration.”
• Painted steel lamp standards and the odd pergola are suffering from corrosion and graffiti.
• The hotel and office towers show no sign of ageing in either fabric or style
• Trees, bushes and lawns in the public parks are flourishing, although boardwalks are currently being dug up and replaced.

How successful have they been since 1992?

• The 12 city blocks remain model residential areas after 13 years. There is a rich architectural diversity that includes 530 different dwelling types. As a result, no hint is given in either materials (much of it high-quality facing brickwork), architectural style or accommodation that the village was originally built for a fleeting sports media event.

Following the urban design model laid down by Ildefons Cerdà, Barcelona’s celebrated late 19th-century planner, they were planned as six-storey buildings encircling entire city blocks on a square street grid, and therefore appear to be a natural continuation of the city. More adventurous architectural forms and gardens appear within the core of these blocks, where they cause next to no disruption to the regular grid.

An urban density of 200 people per hectare has been achieved.

• David Mackay reported in 1999: “Among the new residents, the general opinion is an overwhelming impression of a higher quality of living than the rest of the city in all aspects, especially the awareness of the sky and generosity of public space in the streets and parks.”
• The relocation of railway lines and the sinking of the new ring road opened up the residential area to the seafront for the first time. The Mediterranean beaches, which were once no-go areas, now attract some 8 million visitors a year.
• The housing has been bought on the private market by predominantly young, professional owner–occupiers. A high birth rate has resulted, and Mackay observes that “a great deal of young children can be found playing on the street again”.
• “The sports centre, the parish church, the schools, the health centre and the local cafes have nourished spontaneous community activities,” says Mackay.
• The one social failing of the scheme is that it houses next to none of the district’s original working-class inhabitants. The affordable housing conceived in the original masterplan was unacceptable to the scheme’s private developers.
• The hotel tower remains one of the city’s few five-star modern hotels, attracting jet-set tourists and international conferences. The high-spec office tower next door is occupied by 3000 office staff.
• The marina is packed with leisure yachts. Although tourists are thin on the ground in mid-winter, most of the restaurants and cafes encircling it do a thriving trade in wining and dining city residents.
• The smaller shopping centre and some retail premises have struggled to find tenants. Mackay blames the small number of local residents and premises that were too large.
• Frank Gehry’s giant piscine quasi-pergola in perforated bronze is unabashed, flamboyant seaside architecture writ large. It still fits its location without looking jaded.

SPORTS FACILITIES AT MONTJUIC

What was developed for the Olympics?

Three main sports venues were developed on Montjuic, the castle hill just south of the city centre. Development costs came to £282m, or 6% of the total Olympic expenditure.

• The main Olympic Stadium had originally been built in 1929 but was expanded for the 1992 Olympics by excavating the central pitch to a depth of 11 m, bringing the total seating capacity up to 60,000.
• The main covered sports arena at Palau Sant Jordi seats 16,500 and can accommodate another 5500 standing. The competition-winning design was by Japanese signature architect Arata Isozaki.
• The open-air swimming pool complex was designed by Ricardo Bofill.

How were they adapted afterwards?

• In Palau Sant Jordi, a gantry was attached to the roof structure in 2003. Curtains hung from the gantry enable the hall to be sub-divided in various proportions, making it suitable for smaller events and even for two simultaneous events. Javier Lasunción, Barcelona council’s commercial manager for four Olympic venues, reckons the £510,000 cost will be recouped through an increase in events.
• In the stadium, temporary higher tiers were removed, bringing seating down to 54,000. Plans are being drawn up to convert part of the upper level into a permanent Olympic sports museum.
• In the Olympic pool, temporary tiers were removed. This leaves 3000 seats, which is insufficient for championship events. In 2003, it was converted to a health and fitness club.
• An electronic building management system that controls all the sports buildings on Montjuic was installed three years after the games.

How have they stood up?

• In Palau Sant Jordi, robust, well-detailed concrete cladding panels show almost no sign of wear and tear, other than minor weathering on external cladding. The roof membrane is still sound, although pecking seagulls are working on changing that.
• In the stadium, external render applied in 1992 is spalling in several places and requires regular reinstatement. Eduardo Martinez, the maintenance manager, blames the original specification, which was atypically cheap and makeshift.

How successful have they been since 1992?

• The Olympic Stadium has not fared well. It was adopted by Espanyol, one of the city’s two soccer teams and an American football club called Barcelona Dragons. American football failed to attract sufficient Spanish supporters, and the club disbanded. Soccer fans complained that the running track set them at too great a distance from the football pitch. According to the council’s Lasunción, Barcelona still needs a championship stadium with running track, and this precludes the option of digging deeper to bring seating up to the edge of the football pitch, as happened at Manchester Millennium Stadium. Instead, the football club is taking the more radical option of developing a purpose-built stadium and vacating Montjuic. Other than regular football matches, only 30 events, including five big pop concerts, were hosted in 2003, and Lasunción admits: “These buildings cannot be maintained without regular users.”
• “Palau Sant Jordi is the jewel of the Olympics”, enthuses Lasunción. “Not just in design but in use and popularity. Everyone in Catalonia has attended here at least once, and promoters know its events are guaranteed quality.” The arena commands a healthy series of events, which in 2003 amounted to 160 and attracted more than 1 million spectators. They range from basketball tournaments through musicals to corporate conventions and product promotions.
• One weakness of Palau Sant Jordi is poor heating at floor level in winter, as the building had been designed to keep athletes cool in summer.
• The Olympic pool is open every day as a health and fitness club.