With 25,000 square metres and capacity for 2,500 workers, the new blue economy complex will be completed in 2027.

The Port of Barcelona last week approved the concession of the Sant Bertran wharf sheds to WTCB to build the new complex that will house the BlueTechPort.

The new BlueTechPort takes shape. The Port of Barcelona and World Trade Center Barcelona (WTCB) today presented the construction project that will transform the sheds on the Sant Bertran quay into what will be one of the most important blue economy innovation hubs in Europe. The works, which will begin in October, will involve an investment of 49 million euros, excluding VAT, and will convert the six warehouses of the current building into a leading complex in Europe of 25,000 square metres and capacity for 2,500 workers dedicated to companies, institutions and knowledge centres related to the blue economy.

The presentation of the project comes after the Board of Directors of the Port of Barcelona awarded the concession for the management of the Sant Bertran dock sheds to WTCB on 26 March, confirming the commitment to develop this hub, which will become the epicentre of the city’s innovative blue economy under the management of the World Trade Center Barcelona building, in which the Port is a majority shareholder, together with FCC.

WTCB will lead the investment drive in this project and its subsequent management during the 36-year concession period, thus extending its scope of action beyond the building it currently manages, which will make it a key player in the Port of Barcelona’s innovative ecosystem.

Innovative centrality

The refurbishment, designed by the Barcelona firm b720 Fermín Vázquez Arquitectos and to be put out to tender this April, will maintain the portico structure of the six warehouses, an example of 1960s port architecture, and will link them with an interior boulevard that will act as a backbone. The works are scheduled to begin in October and will be completed two years later, in autumn 2027.

BlueTechPort will host start-ups, scale-ups, accelerators and international institutions and organisations linked to innovation and the blue economy. And it will do so at a strategic point, where city and port converge, acting as a nexus between the Port of Barcelona, the Port Vell, and the commercial and logistics spheres, offering new spaces open to the public, promoting the urban transformation of the area and becoming the new centre of the city’s blue economy.

This new innovation hub will put into practice the concept of the Port of Barcelona as a sandbox, offering companies that set up shop access to 50 linear metres of the Barcelona North quay so that they can experiment and test their prototypes before launching them on the market.

Born in 2023, BlueTechPort is, together with the BCN Port Innovation Foundation, the Port of Barcelona’s major commitment to promote innovation in the Barcelona Port Community and create synergies with the rest of the international innovation ecosystem. Having exhausted the space available at Tech Barcelona’s Pier 01, located in the Palau de Mar, six months ago 1,500 square metres were set up in the Sant Bertran warehouses, rehabilitating old office space. As of today, while awaiting the complete transformation of the complex, a dozen companies with around forty workers have already set up shop, including initiatives such as Ocean Ecostructures, Navozyme, BlueNetCat and the Los Angeles-based blue start-up accelerator Braid Theory.

‘The concession of the Sant Bertran sheds to the WTCB, as well as the project we are presenting today, represent the definitive step towards making the BlueTechPort of the future a reality. The success of the initiative is unquestionable, as demonstrated by the growing number of companies and institutions that have set up in the spaces currently available, and now it is time to take a qualitative and quantitative leap forward with the new BlueTechPort. This project positions us at the forefront of initiatives to promote the blue economy in Barcelona, and consolidates the city’s leadership in this field at European level’, explained the President of the Port of Barcelona, José Alberto Carbonell.

‘The BlueTechPort is a key part of the Port of Barcelona’s innovation value proposition. These two years since its creation at Pier01 have confirmed the need for a space to host and promote innovative initiatives related to the blue economy and the new BlueTechPort will be the fundamental pillar of this ecosystem. Not only will it create synergies between the actors present, but the Port of Barcelona will provide them with access to the port area and the Port Community as a sandbox for their projects. This will allow us to continue to be leaders in innovation’, explained the Port of Barcelona’s Director of Innovation and Business Strategy, Emma Cobos.

‘The collaboration with the Port of Barcelona to develop the new BlueTechPort will mark a before and after for the World Trade Center as a real estate manager. This is the first real estate asset outside the Barcelona waterfront to be added to our portfolio and, in line with our strategic plan, we want it to be a starting point to continue growing and expanding our area of activity, with innovation, sustainability and collaboration as our flagship,’ said Carles Anglada, CEO of WTCB.

Benchmark in sustainability.

The new BlueTechPort will not only consolidate the Port of Barcelona on the map of innovation in Barcelona, but will also be a benchmark in terms of sustainability. Thanks to a design that will prioritise energy efficiency, the building’s interior promenade will be naturally air-conditioned, using ventilation and light to regulate temperature and humidity. Thus, the building will reduce energy consumption by 60% compared to an equivalent conventional office building and, at the same time, almost half of the consumption will be produced by the solar panels on the roof, with the capacity to generate 650 MWh per year.

The commitment to refurbish the existing sheds while preserving the structure will reduce CO2 generation in the construction process by 20%, a carbon footprint that will also be reduced thanks to the selection of the materials used in the refurbishment. BlueTechPort will also have a water recovery and storage system that will cover all irrigation needs, while allowing grey water to be recycled.