Lloret de Mar is a seaside town of approximately 40,000 inhabitants located on the Costa Brava about an hour’s drive north of Barcelona. A new cultural facility has been recently opened there design by Daniel Mòdol who is both architect and urban planner.  Consisting of  8,000 sq.m. including an ambitious programme of services; municipal library, multi-use hall, children’s play centre, day centre for the retired and social services offices. The development is broken down into the parts of its sum with each element being expressed individually establishing an appropriate scale with the surrounding context. The various strands of the programme are wrapped around each other with external public access weaving through and a generous internal ramp connecting ground and basement levels. The concrete frame structure allows for dramatic cantilevers and structural gymnastics that create a dynamic and fluid relationship with the square in front, which at some future date will be remodelled in accordance with Mòdol’s master plan.  With a budget of almost 11 million euros in total this building represents a high point both architecturally and financially in local government investment in local communities, one that we are unlikely to see for some time to come.

www.dmdeau.com