The Botanical Institute building – a centre dependent on the Superior Council of Scientific Research – is located at the highest point of the Barcelona Botanical Garden on the side of the Montjuic mountain together with the Olympic Ring. The building faces the north-east wing of the garden, the area dedicated to the phytoepisodes of the Western Mediterranean and North Africa, with views over the city of Barcelona. It is structured as a horizontal line that intersects the natural sloping terrain like a hinge between two topographic elevations. In this way, the section allows the different programs to be organizsd with independent access from the back road and from the network of paths in the garden. The Botanical Institute is divided into three different levels according to its program: – A first underground level located in the large concrete vessel that forms the foundations and that contains, with specific air conditioning, the plant deposits, books, the large herbarium, as well as the installations and the small work area both illuminated and ventilated through patios. This plant acts as a structural counterweight to the constructive mechanism of the upper plants; a set of reinforced concrete screens, walls, girders that organise the program and support the intermediate level at the level of the garden and from which the upper floor is suspended at the level of the access platform and rear parking lot. – The multipurpose room and the Salvador Museum, the exhibition area and the cafeteria-restaurant are on the intermediate level, connected to the Botanic Garden’s path network. All of them have access to the garden. – The restricted area intended for scientists; the library, research areas and laboratories and the administration area are on the upper level. The six-metre corridors adapt to the different structural and lighting requests, making up a continuum in which the gusts become more powerful as the topographic fall of the land becomes more pronounced. The construction uses the same materials already present in the construction of the garden; exposed concrete and Corten steel.

The current program of uses envisages a substantial expansion of the Germplasm Bank, which represents a key piece in the Garden's conservation programs and the role it must assume in relation to the conservation of Catalan wild flora in the near future. The best and most logical solution seems to be the coverage of the unloading docks of the Garden maintenance building that we call Northern Semicircle, which is currently used for storage. This solution is possible from the enabling of the spaces for piling up material, substrates and machinery at the southern end of the Garden. It is proposed to cover the current unloading docks in such a way that an entire level is enabled, with the exception of the one located on the far right, since according to the elevations extracted from the last topographical survey by means of a small slope executed at the level of the lower path, it is possible to split the plant and thus locate a new space for a public use of the Garden. The incorporation of female staff in the maintenance tasks of the botanical garden made the forecasts that were established at the time in relation to the hygienic and work facilities insufficient. It was convenient to segregate a space for showers and changing rooms larger than the current one to separate the changing rooms from the sanitary ones. The coverage proposed there, proposed at the time in anticipation of the growth of the Garden's needs, seems uncomplicated since part of the screens and the foundation are pre-existing. Finally, other improvements are proposed for users in the use of the maneuvering and work yard such as, on the one hand, the paving of a perimeter concrete sidewalk in the previous circle and, on the other hand, the protection of the incident solar from the interior of the offices through a pergola, which also serves to travel from one space to the other without getting wet in case of rain.

Given the requirements from the Barcelona Botanic Garden for the expansion of the Germplasm Bank and a reorganisation of the work spaces, we plan to rationalise the uses of the current offices and colonise the northern semicircle (built on the irrigation water tank). In this way, we preserve the current footprint of the circular route in the landscape around the maneuvering area. The current program of uses envisages a substantial expansion of the germplasm bank, a key piece in the conservation programs of the garden and in the role it will play in relation to the conservation of Catalan wild flora in the near future. The best and most logical solution seems to be to cover the unloading docks of the Garden’s maintenance building, what we call northern semicircle, currently used for storage. This solution has been possible since spaces were created for the storage of materials, substrates and machinery at the southern end of the Garden. It is proposed to cover the current unloading docks in such a way that an entire level is enabled, except for the one located on the far right, given that, according to the levels extracted from the last topographical study, they allow through a small unevenness executed in the level of the lower path, split the plant and thus locate a new space for public use in the Garden. The inclusion of female personnel in the maintenance tasks of the botanical garden made the forecasts that were established at the time in terms of hygienic and work facilities insufficient. It was convenient to segregate a space for showers and changing rooms larger than the current one, in which the changing rooms were separated from the sanitary ones. The coverage that is proposed was already proposed at the time in anticipation of the growth of the needs of the Garden, which is why carrying out the work to adapt the building of the northern semicircle seems not very complex, given that part of the screens and of the foundation are pre-existing. On the other hand, we propose other improvements for users in the use of the maneuvering and work yard, which are to pave a concrete sidewalk in the inner circle and to protect the offices from solar incidence through a pergola, so that you can move from one space to another without getting wet in the event of rain.