A centennial market

The municipal architect Pere Falqués,responsible for a great many Modernista works and buildings, constructed the Mercat de Sants on land previously known as the Hort Nou, the new market garden. This new covered market opened in 1913, serving an increasingly more populous Sants neighbourhood, and it soon became the commercial and social hub of the area. The building, in three sections and with exposed brickwork, is an almost perfect example of Barcelona market architecture at the beginning of the 20th century.

The market is protected as a listed building and a piece of Barcelona’s architectural, historical and artistic heritage, and the passage of time made renovation necessary if it was to recover its former splendour.

Efficient and modern

The work, which began in 2009 and finished in 2014, was the responsibility of the architectural studio Pb2 Projecte, led by the architect Josep Llobet i Bach. The renovations respected the Modernista features on the facade so that the building still retains its original essence whilst having been altered and completely updated inside.

Each of the fifty stalls has been designed according to the vendors’ wishes and the products they offer. In addition, the market now has new services, like parking spaces for 90 customers. The remodelling was also done with sustainability in mind and includes elements making the building a model of energy efficiency, like an air-conditioning system based on groundwater use and lighting with movement sensors, amongst other things.