The new Llagosta municipal cemetery has been designed as a public facility within the general framework of the future Besós river park.
The project gives the cemetery a capacity of 401 niches and 110 columbariums, which would be reached once the two planned phases are built.
Due to the proximity of the water table, the construction of buried tombs and pantheons has been ruled out.
In the first phase - which occupies an area of 1,174 m2 - 201 niches and 56 columbariums, an ecumenical chapel, an autopsy room, ancillary services and car parks have been built, and the guidelines for its future growth have also been set.
The site is organised from a series of small niche courtyards, which are arranged along two main axes. This series of patios could be said to draw a carpet. The chapel, the morgue, etc. are interspersed in the succession of courtyards and have their own collected atmosphere.
This organisation of space provides the site with a human scale, far from any monumental rhetoric, and allows the fragmentation of the whole into small environments, defined by walls and vegetation, behind which the niches are collected in intimate and differentiated spaces.
Among this drawing of walls and courtyards, only the geometric volume of the chapel roof stands out, which establishes a clear reference in a very blurred environment.
The site has been completed with the planting of pines and virgin vines, in the niche patios; mimosas and laurels in the courtyards of the chapel; cypress trees on the access road; and, around the enclosure, a space has been delimited by planting long rows of poplars.
The La Llagosta municipal cemetery was designed as a public facility within the general framework of the future Besòs river park. The project provides the cemetery with a capacity of 401 niches and 110 columbariums. The project was divided into two phases.
The site is organised from a series of small niche courtyards, which are arranged along two main axes. This series of patios draw a carpet. The chapel and the morgue are interspersed in the succession of courtyards and have their own collected atmosphere. This organisation of space provides the site with a human scale, far from any monumental rhetoric, and allows the fragmentation of the whole into small environments, defined by walls and vegetation, behind which the niches are collected in intimate and differentiated spaces. Among this drawing of walls and courtyards, only the geometric volume of the chapel roof stands out, which establishes a clear reference in a very blurred environment.
Regarding the materials used and the finishes, concrete and wood have been used. The niches are prefabricated in concrete while the walls and fences are in exposed concrete formwork with vertical wooden planks. The growth axes are temporarily closed with plastered, cracked and painted masonry walls. As for floor finishes, the exterior paths have been paved with concrete in situ, with a scraped finish, and inside the chapel, this same pavement is lowered and polished. In the yards, river gravel has been spread. The joinery is built from the same planks as the formwork, stained and varnished.
The site has been completed with the planting of pines and virgin vines, in the niche patios; mimosas and laurels in the courtyards of the chapel; cypress trees on the access road; and, around the enclosure, a space has been delimited by planting long rows of poplars.
The built part corresponds to the first phase of a wider project, which provides space for 400 niches and 110 columbariums. The configuration of the project responds to the action divided in phases. The built phase consists of a closed rectangular enclosure, accessible only through a wooden sliding door. Right at the entrance there is a courtyard that gives access to the chapel and to two avenues that divide the site into three unequal strips. The niches are arranged in these strips in varied positions and always linked to a small patio. The cemetery eschews views and monumentality and emphasises gathering and the human scale, as well as the identity of each of the created corners. The outer spaces are shaded by the vegetation and some horizontal slabs that cover the steps, creating a system of small enclosures that serve only three rows of niches.
