Located 30 km north of Barcelona, today Parc de Belloch contains a large knowledge park dedicated to sustainable design and circularity. This estate plays host to various activities in unique surroundings, right in the middle of nature.
Manuel Baldrich's project, an educational complex
The noble lineage that inhabited the estate documented since 972 is well-known. Through various successions, their descendants held on to the land until 1944, when it came to belong to a private individual. Two decades later, in 1964, it was acquired by the City Council of Barcelona through the Social Fund of the Savings Bank of Barcelona. Architect and town planner Manuel Baldrich (1911-1966) then received an extraordinary commission, to design the Bell-lloc boarding school and the corresponding buildings.
Manuel Baldrich, architect of the City Council of Barcelona and director of the provincial Town Planning Office, was also behind various town planning plans. In addition to his noteworthy architectural works in the region’s capital such as the Mundet Residences, the Montbau industrial estate and the Sant Jordi swimming pool, he published numerous books and works and actively participated in congresses, debates and seminars.
The educational complex was to host one thousand two hundred students, half of which would board there, and two hundred adults between teaching and service staff. Baldrich chose the highest part of the plot of land to build the school buildings and their community facilities and sports courts and fields, taking the ground level down sixteen metres to achieve a completely flat area to build on. The result was a series of volumes that related magnificently to the landscape, joined together by a system of porches to bring the unit together and facilitate the passage from one building to another.
Thus a central square was formed bordered by the conference rooms and residences, cafeteria, church and the porches themselves. An authentic landscaped forum that served as both a meeting point and point of orientation for residents and visitors, crowned by the bell tower of the church, the centre of gravity of this great forecourt.
The architect, and designer of the majority of the furniture, worked in collaboration with sculptor Josep María Subirachs to incorporate his artistic elements into the church, painter Albert Ràfols-Casamanda, who brought his pictorial artwork to life in the church’s stained glass windows, and Parvine Curie (pen name Arlette Marti), who carved pictures into some of the outer walls of the complex. A project that, developed based on the principles of modern architecture, was successfully executed in terms of proportionality, distribution and materiality, as well as the careful design of the exterior spaces and their walkways.
Conversion to a knowledge park
In the middle of the nineties, the Bell-lloc school closed its doors permanently following the merger between the Savings Bank of Barcelona and “La Caixa” and their social funds, which led to a change of orientation in their grant policies. After years of disuse, the Intramundana group acquired the property, settling in 2003 and entrusting the promotion and management thereof to Parc de Belloch, which assists a community of companies located in a central campus of approximately 10 hectares. The group settled in to the building closest to the entrance and, with the utmost respect for the original construction, limited itself to making only slight interior modifications to adapt it to its needs, thus reviving a series of rooms that time had forgotten.
Later, in 2006, the Batlle i Roig studio carried out more extensive works to adapt the buildings and external spaces that would be used by the Telefónica Corporate University. An adaptation that highlights the identity and patrimonial value of the place.
The Belloch Campus currently offers a privileged space for companies and organisations that need to share knowledge. The numerous meeting rooms, comfortable accommodation and a carefully planned gastronomic offer make the Campus a magnificent meeting point for corporate events. An invitation to organise all types of activity, from sports to leisure, in our extensive installations. Unforgettable experiences custom-designed for the occasion.
Parc de Belloch, a unique showroom
An idyllic setting far from any distraction, surrounded by trees and with its own cutting-edge nursery known as Belloch Forestal.
Here, we select and grow urban trees and plants based on reasoned, empirical criteria published in our Canon de Belloch (Belloch standards). Here we design and develop quality lighting and urban furniture, micro-architecture and tree elements. Four fundamental pillars to organise life in the twenty-first Century, between urban meeting rooms and cool parks.
There is no better stage to associate management, ecology and design -three young and now inescapable disciplines- than this place we are lucky enough to call home. Exploring Baldrich’s architecture under the spacious pergolas. Sitting comfortably amongst planters, breathing the fresh air and reflecting on the passionate history we have just narrated.
