a+t architecture publishers

We recently visited the construction site of the Street A in the industrial area of Zona Franca. The design of the street akes advantage of the construction of the new metro viaduct to turn it into an urban road. Under the bridge slabs, a 2,600 metre-long urban promenade has been planned. It will have a two-way circuit that will make use of the flat, straight, shaded and covered space to allow for walking, running, skating, cycling, etc., understood to be sports rather than simply going from one place to another. There will be two strips of asphalt mixture, 1.2 m wide and painted with brightly coloured resins.

Along the central reservation below the bridge, a pavement marked every 2.5 m with numerical references every 100 metres that allow users to measure distances. Coinciding with each numerical point, a 25 m waiting and rest space is reserved, with the incorporation of benches, bicycle parking, litter bins, fountains, pedestrian crossings, as well as the entrances to the metro stations on Street A.

Besides the pedestrian route under the elevated tram crossing, the project also includes the improvement of roads for vehicular traffic and pedestrian crossings and relocates bus stops. The new pavements were designed to accommodate a large amount of vegetation and are done in grey concrete paving stones.

On the first stretch of the central reservation, where the viaducts are distanced and where natural light is possible, the planting of low maintenance vegetation is proposed to offset the hardness of the concrete elements. At the crossroads new beds of grass, base shrubs for most of the existing trees and new trees to privatise and give shade to the rest areas will be created. On roundabouts, trees recovered from the construction of the viaduct have been reserved, and a new flower bed will occupy the outer strip of pavement.

Four metro stations are spread out along the path, located on the centre of the central reservation, with a length of 85 m and a three-floor height. To avoid a visual interruption at pedestrian level, the lower floor will be cladded in transparent glass. In addition, the inside of each station will give continuity to the pavement of the central reservation, where material, lines and colour will be respected.

Photos taken by Javier Arpa, available under request.