Can Serra Park in Barberà del Vallès (Barcelona)

Within the urban nucleus of Barberà del Vallès and its surroundings lie remnants of exuberant vegetation of varying sizes that have been preserved thanks to the existence of a watercourse or private ownership.

The design of the new park took the wooded areas as its main feature, as though a fragment of ancient woodland had survived the rapid growth of urban fabric. This urban space does not aim to attract attention; the design of the park and its elements was the product of self-imposed silence.

Passeig de Doctor Moragas, the town’s central thoroughfare, determines the orientation and basic geometry of the park’s paths and platforms. A long promenade of wooden decking ensures its contact with the park. The same timber is used in the benches, railings and doors of the small park services building, and the remaining horizontal surfaces will be gravel or grass.

The wood-cum-garden covers most of the space, leaving an esplanade for sports, almost like an inner courtyard. The resulting park is, then, a flat surface planted with the pines and different species of oak found in the surrounding vegetation.

Two basic elements inform the general spatial layout. An arrangement of parallel strips is oblivious to the irregularity of the park’s boundaries, and a scattered layout of clumps of trees adapts flexibly to the perimeter and to the project’s point of departure.

Two architectural objects, like concrete prisms, are inserted into the linear layout that governs the overall spatial arrangement. The first, housing the civic centre and bar, is laid out horizontally beneath the canopy of the trees; the second, the lighting tower, stands out among them as a vertical landmark. While the building marks a visual limit under the wooded mass, the vertical tower plays the role of a symbolic totem pole standing in a clearing in the wood.

At night, the concrete elements light up the park. The tower is transformed into a great light screen, and the small building presents a different image thanks to the surprising transparency of its white marble windows.