The new facility will be built on land next to the CosmoCaixa, at the foot of Collserola. The CaixaResearch Institute will conduct research and innovation in the spheres of infectious diseases, global health, oncology, neurodegenerative diseases and neurosciences. Similarly, the centre will forge ties with the other four research centres in the city: the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and the Barcelona Beta Research Centre (BBRC).

Project planning and advice will be headed by Josep Tabernero, director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology and head of the Medical Oncology Service at the Hospital de la Vall d’Hebron. The centre will also take on over 300 research and investigation professionals.

Much more than a research centre: a space for citizens

The new centre will mean the spatial reorganisation of an area of 53,000 square metres. One notable feature will be a new public space to be created above the Ronda de Dalt ring road, connecting the CaixaResearch Institute with the CosmoCaixa and accessible to the general public. The area at the back of the research centre will also have a green space of over a thousand square metres, a stone’s throw from the Collserola Natural Park.

The new planning arrangements will enable a draft project to be developed to build a set of buildings with 12,000 square metres of space for labs and top quality science and tech facilities for innovation, needed to create a leading international centre in health research and innovation. The complex will fit in with the landscape, with buildings no higher than three floors.

The Fundació “la Caixa” will gradually develop the centre over the next four years, investing over 60 million euros between the construction of the building and its facilities.