News
This is BlueTechPort, Sant Bertran quay's 60-million transformation
The six former warehouses on Sant Bertran quay, next to the World Trade Center Barcelona and Plaça de les Drassanes, are in the process of becoming BlueTechPort, a new 25,000-square-metre complex dedicated to companies, research centres and projects linked to the blue economy. Investment amounts to 60 million euros and opening is planned for 2028.
The works officially began on 8 January with the laying of the first stone. The project will refurbish port warehouses built in the 1960s rather than replace them completely: their characteristic portal-frame and vault structure will be retained and the six sheds will be connected to each other.
The change will be especially visible from the Drassanes, Montjuïc and Ronda Litoral area. The project by b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos adds a new vertical glazed volume above the old roofs, conceived as a recognisable element in the complex’s profile. The proposal combines the existing industrial architecture with open spaces, natural light and interior vegetation.
When operating at full capacity, BlueTechPort will have room for around 2,500 professionals. In addition to flexible offices for companies and startups, the programme provides spaces for technology and research centres, laboratories, an auditorium, restaurant, café and terraces.
The project does not start from scratch either. BlueTechPort began developing its ecosystem in temporary spaces at Port Vell and by early 2026 already grouped 22 companies linked to maritime activity, sustainability and technology. The new facilities will make it possible to concentrate and expand that activity in Sant Bertran.
One difference from a conventional business park will be its direct proximity to the port. The aim is for companies to use the port site as a real-world setting to test solutions related to navigation, logistics, energy, marine biodiversity or decarbonisation, in coordination with operators and infrastructure already working there.
The complex will also house Fundación BCN Port Innovation and Instituto de Logística de Barcelona. World Trade Center Barcelona will manage the sheds under a 36-year concession and the works have been awarded to the joint venture formed by COMSA and VOPI-4.
The schedule has changed from the first forecasts. When the construction project was presented in 2025, completion was said to be in 2027, but with the definitive start of works Port de Barcelona moved commissioning to 2028. The construction timetable used at the start of the works points to spring of that year.
Until then, the most visible change will take place on the Sant Bertran sheds themselves. The intervention will retain much of their industrial identity, but add new volumes and uses at one of the points where Port Vell, Montjuïc and the southern entrance to central Barcelona meet.