Port of Barcelona awards the construction of BlueTechPort to COMSA and VOPI4

The World Trade Center Barcelona (WTCB) Management Board has awarded the tender to build the future BlueTechPort to the Temporary Joint Venture comprising COMSA SAU; VOPI4, SA and COMSA Instalaciones y sistemas, SAU to the tune of €52,347,237 (including VAT). This TJV obtained the best score among the seven that tendered bids in the call for tenders involving 16 construction companies. The works are scheduled to begin during November, with a completion deadline of two and a half years. The member companies of BlueTechPort, previously located in the sheds of the Sant Bertran wharf, have relocated to the WTCB and will remain there until the new 25,700 m2 facility opens.

On 26 March the Port of Barcelona Management Board awarded the management of the Sant Bertran wharf sheds to WTCB, which will provide the investment and manage this project during the 36-year concession.

BlueTechPort, which was set up to accelerate innovation in the maritime and port sector, will host start-ups, scale-ups, accelerators and international institutions and organizations linked to the blue economy. This new innovative hub will put into practice the concept of the Port of Barcelona as a sandbox, enhancing the testing space currently offered to companies: access to 50 linear meters of the Barcelona Nord wharf to experiment and test their prototypes before bringing them to market.

Its location on the Sant Bertran wharf, where the city and commercial port converge, will generate new spaces open to the public, fostering the urban transformation of the area and becoming the new center of the city's blue economy.

Set up in 2023, BlueTechPort is today the embryo of an innovative ecosystem, and the work site of several scale up companies, more than fifteen start-ups, two research centers and several international organizations dedicated to the blue economy. Along with the BCN Port Innovation Foundation, BlueTechPort is the Port of Barcelona's main tool for promoting innovation in the Port Community and for creating synergies with the rest of the Barcelona and international innovation ecosystem.

An innovative and sustainable project

The BlueTechPort project, designed by the Barcelona-based architecture firm b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos, will maintain the portico structure of the six former warehouses - an example of port architecture from the 1960s - and will connect them with an interior promenade that will function as a central axis. The project preserves the existing structure and façades, reusing the original metal structure and incorporating low-carbon footprint materials, such as wood and recycled components, all of which are removable and reusable thanks to their dry assembly.

The building will have an eight-story central tower, a built-up area of more than 25,700 m² and will hold up to 2,500 people. The design, which includes features such as an internal and external agora, laboratories, training rooms, exhibition space and auditorium, makes it easy to generate flexible spaces fostering collaboration between the future occupants of BlueTechPort.

The complex was designed using maximum sustainability criteria and a commitment to bioclimatic spaces, with temperate and biophilic areas, with interior vegetation and low water demand making it possible to reduce irrigation water consumption by up to 70% and that of water tanks by up to 50% by reusing grey water and rainwater. Geothermal energy using seawater and 500 kW photovoltaic generation will cover 40% of the building's energy supply needs.