Due to its technical complexity and the historic value of the building, this is one of the most emblematic and most recent works carried out by the calafina company. Specifically, it consisted in the restoration of the Administration Pavilion and the main access fence of the modernist complex of the Santa Cruz and San Pablo Hospital in Barcelona, designed by the architect Llluís Domènech i Muntaner and built between 1902 and 1930.
One of the challenges of this work has been, as explained by the head of the work, Joan Miquel, to return to the original state – as they were devised at the beginning of last century – all architectural and ornamental elements. These elements were severely punished over the years due to the continuous needs of a hospital that was in use until the 1990s: “over 100 years the heights of the rooms were touched, openings were eliminated and New ones were created, original pavements of great artistic value were damaged, mosaics were covered, sculptural ensembles were removed … and everything that was agreed in each moment. So “there was a very important task of restoration to see the mosaics, the ceramic pavements, the rooms, etc., in all its splendor,” explains Miquel. In the work they worked an average of 150 people, of which 50 were restorers and highly qualified personnel, from sculptors to glassmakers, through forging craftsmen, mosaicist, stonemason, or ceramists, among others.
Another of the challenges presented by this work was to turn this architectural monument of the early twentieth century into a building adapted to current needs: ” this meant redoing its gut, with hundreds of meters of service facilities, without the appearance Aesthetics of San Pablo would be altered, ” explains Miquel.
The architectural complex of Santa Cruz and San Pablo is the most important modernist complex in Europe and currently houses a new center of knowledge and research that, for the moment, have been incorporated seven leading bodies in the fields of health, sustainability and education . It is also a space for cultural outreach, and a new meeting center for holding conferences, meetings and activities.
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