Vice-president Jordi Cardoner, Club director Jordi Moix and the architect Albert Blanch have presented the new Club Social HQ and Auditorium 1899 “We wanted to dignify our facilities for fans and workers and to make the Club more welcoming”, revealed Cardoner
Rosell visits the new facilities
Following the speeches from Cardoner, Moix and Blanch in the Ricard Maxenchs Press Room, the Board of Directors, led by Club president Sandro Rosell, visited the new Social club and Auditorium 1899.
The new Club Social HQ and Auditorium 1899 were officially presented at midday this Thursday by Social Area vice-president, Jordi Cardoner, the Board member for the Patrimony Dept, Jordi Moix, and Albert Blanch, the architect of the project which has transformed a disused sports facility (Palau Blaugrana 2) into a multifunctional building. According to Cardoner, “the space will be a meeting place for Barça supporters”.
Among other facilities, the building will house the OAB, OAP, the OAE and a cafeteria. The vice-president explained: “Our aim is to try and understand the needs of every specific group and to improve the service”.
Dignity, warmth and functionality
Moving these offices also has another clear aim, as expressed by Cardoner: “We wanted to dignify our facilities for fans and employees and to make the club more welcoming so that members and fans could use them 365 days a year”. For this reason, he explained what they had been looking for in the new facilities: “To combine the dignity of the social space with criteria of functionality and make use of the assets of the Club without losing sight of our history”.
Opening up to Les Corts
Cardoner also referred to the Barça’s “unfinished business”: “To open up the Camp Nou to the neighbourhood. We consider ourselves just another local resident and we wanted to take away architectural barriers to integration, opening up to la Travessera, as the Club was oriented to the north.
Jordi Moix explained: “The new space is the result of a series of actions taken in the Stadium over the last two years by the Patrimony dept. The new Club Social HQ and Auditorium 1899 reinforce the patrimonial philosophy. They are a trial run for the future Barça Space and create a new entrance to the ground from Les Corts”.
Social and economic use
In his speech, Moix pointed out that the old Picadero “has had different uses historically, and now it will be social and economic”. The architect Albert Blanch explained that the removal of architectural barriers has involved a sensitive but complete overhaul of the facilities: “The structure and the old brick walls of the Palau Blaugrana 2 are prominently featured, because of regulations and common sense”.