HOK + TAC Wins Competition for New FC Barcelona Palau
John Hill, Silvia Pujalte Toledo
3. February 2016
Panoramic image of the New Palau Blaugrana (Image courtesy of HOK)
The FC Barcelona has announced that the team of HOK and TAC Arquitectes has been chosen as the winner of the architectural competition for the New Palau Blaugrana.
As we reported in September when the finalists were announced, the Espai Barça competition consists of two pieces of new construction: the New Camp Nou (stadium for 105,000 spectators) and the New Palau Blaugrana (for 12,000 spectators and including an ice rink, commercial zone, modern offices and parking). FC Barcelona's announcement from last week concerns the latter.
The HOK + TAC team was one of six finalists for the New Palau Blaugrana, beating out proposals by Pattern Architects + Massip-Bosch Arquitectes; GMP + GCA Arquitectes; Make + BCQ Arquitectes; Francisco Mangado Arquitectos + Bach Arquitectes + R. Sanabria Arquitectes + I. Paricio; and Wilkinson Eyre Architects + Alonso Balaguer Riera Arquitectes. The jury was composed of five members of FCB, three members of the Col•legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC) and one member of Barcelona City Council. The jury praised the winning team's innovative, multifunctional concept and the design's permeability and flexibility. Work on the New Palau Blaugrana is expected to start in the 2017/18 season and end in the 2019/20 season.
HOK is a global firm with 24 offices on three continents, most of them in North America, where the firm has realized numerous sports facilities such as the American Airlines Arena in Miami, the Nationwide Arena in Ohio and the Stockton Arena in California. TAC, a Catalan firm led by Eduard Gascón, has developed projects of all kinds in Barcelona such as the award-winning Parque del Turó de Can Mates, the Manresa Technology Center and various office buildings.
Over the next few weeks, the jury is set to announce the winner of the project for the New Camp Nou from the eight finalists: AECOM + B720 Arquitectes; Arup Sport + Taller d’Arquitectura Ricardo Bofill; BIG + IDOM + BAAS Arquitectes; Gensler Sport + OAB; HKS + COX + Batlle i Roig Arquitectes; KSS + Mateo Arquitectura; Nikken Sekkei + Joan Pascual i Ramon Ausió Arquitectes; and Populous + MIAS Arquitectes + RCR Arquitectes.
