Pavelló Illa: Barcelona’s new sports hub looks good, keeps cool and saves energy
Located in the dense urban fabric of Barcelona, Pavelló Illa is a new sports centre that stands out for its sensitive integration into a complex context.
Pavelló Illa: Barcelona’s new sports hub looks good, keeps cool and saves energy
Located in the dense urban fabric of Barcelona, Pavelló Illa is a new sports centre that stands out for its sensitive integration into a complex context. Anna Noguera, who co-designed the building with AIA Arquitectura i Instal·lacions, describes the project’s guiding principles:
“Designed as a light, translucent volume nestled between local schools and the massive Illa Diagonal shopping complex, the building acts as a mediating element—functioning by day as a sunlit interior and by night as a luminous urban lantern.”
From the outset, the project has embraced passive energy design and materials with a low environmental footprint. The structural system combines steel with CLT (cross-laminated timber), offering multiple benefits: reduced embodied energy, a lower overall carbon footprint, and improved possibilities for future disassembly and material reuse. The use of an industrialised timber system not only streamlines construction but also aligns with circular economy principles.
Praxis Resilient Buildings contributed to the project through an in-depth thermodynamic simulation study with the DesignBuilder tool, using EnergyPlus for thermal and natural ventilation modelling and radiance. The goal was to assess and optimise the building’s environmental performance throughout the year.
Our work focused on:
- Solar gain analysis on the translucent thermal envelope to inform shading strategies.
- Natural ventilation performance, including airflow modelling, opening controls, and seasonal flow rates.
- Summer overheating risk reduction through integrated passive measures.
- Daylighting studies to balance visual comfort with energy performance.
- The thermal impact of green façades and vegetated areas, contributing to both internal comfort and urban heat island mitigation.
This holistic approach has helped shape a sports facility that is not only architecturally responsive but also performs exceptionally well from an energy and comfort perspective—offering a replicable model for resilient and sustainable public architecture in urban environments.
