Sant Andreu transforms the old Casernes with 69 new public flats

Barcelona is promoting 69 homes for older people in Sant Andreu. The project, valued at more than 10 million, prioritises industrialised construction. The area is gaining services and changing its urban landscape. Public investment is growing in the district.

The landscape of Sant Andreu is changing again: the former Casernes will add 69 public homes for older people, a further step in the transformation of this historic site. The Institut Municipal de l’Habitatge i Rehabilitació de Barcelona has launched the tender to build two buildings on Víctor Colomer street, with an investment exceeding 10 million euros and a construction period of less than three years.

The project includes two blocks, one with five storeys and the other with ten, reaching heights of 35 metres. Most flats will have two bedrooms, an open-plan kitchen and a bathroom, and residents in the lower building will enjoy small terraces. In addition, five homes will be set aside for people who live alone, along with a space for bicycle parking, adapting the provision to the neighbourhood’s current needs.

To speed up the delivery of the homes, the City Council will reward proposals that opt for industrialised and off-site prefabricated systems. A facility yet to be defined will be provided on the ground floor, expanding the services available in the area.

The Casernes de Sant Andreu have become one of the main hubs of public housing in Barcelona. Key facilities already operate nearby, such as the Eulàlia Bota school, an emergency centre and the Mossos d’Esquadra police station, consolidating the area as a hub of services and community life.

The site, once occupied by the army, remained closed for decades and later became an improvised refuge for homeless young people and immigrants. Following the eviction and the design of an urban plan in 2005, the area has undergone a radical transformation, with new green and residential areas that have changed everyday life in Sant Andreu.

The municipal commitment to public housing in the district is clear: almost half of the developments planned until the end of the term are concentrated in the former Casernes. Proximity to the future La Sagrera station is driving interest and investment, with thousands of homes and new facilities on the horizon.

For decades, the Casernes de Sant Andreu symbolised the military presence in the neighbourhood. The transfer of the land to the Consorci de la Zona Franca in the 1990s opened the door to one of Barcelona’s largest urban development operations. Today, this space is an example of how the city can reinvent its past to respond to the social and urban needs of the present.