The Nautical Node is a research, business and educational hub related to the blue economy sector in the city of Barcelona. The site is located in the Northern harbour at the tip of Barceloneta.
The Nautical Node bring together the Nautical Faculty of UPC and the Incubator for blue industries of Barcelona Activa. It is conceived as a modern nautical “Agora”, a meeting place for students, entrepreneurs and professionals in the sector.
The building will also house specific research installations such as:
– a pool for hydrodynamic simulations,
– a wind tunnel for aerodynamic simulations
– an advanced training simulator for training captains and navigators.
Some of these unique installations will be visible to the public on the ground floor and thus become an important part of the building’s identity.
The building borrows its composition from the neighbourhood of Barceloneta, and is designed as a negotiator between the different scales in the neighbouring buildings.
The project seeks to empower urban space by blurring physical borders and create a fluid relationship between interior and exterior spaces. The perforations in different directions and positions generate interior and exterior relations that connect the building and the city. The volumetric composition and alterations in the façade allow the building to be perceived with different scales and nuances.
The structure is inspired by large harbour cranes and consist of 7 large structural frames with suspended slabs. The structure allows for large column free areas in the inferior floors to accomodate for the Agora, the 30x30m large research pool and the wind tunnel.