On July 7, Laboqueria Arquitectura participated in the institutional presentation of the future Pol Cooperatiu Cal Valeri, a strategic project for the social and cooperative economy of the Ponent regions that will transform two old industrial buildings on Sant Pelegrí Street in Tàrrega into a new space for collective management, economic activity and community dynamization.

The event was attended by Ricard Grau, partner of Laboqueria Arquitectura, along with representatives of the promoting entities and various institutions, including the Generalitat’s Director General of Social Economy and Cooperativism, David Bonvehí; the Mayor of Tàrrega, Rosa Maria Perelló; the provincial deputy Òscar Martínez and the president of the Urgell Regional Council, José Luís Marín.

The project is led by the Quàlia cooperative and promoted jointly with Contrapunt, La Rossite, SPASA, El Galliner, La Remolatxa and Ponent Coopera, with the aim of creating a new cooperative ecosystem capable of generating employment, economic activity and new spaces for relationships in the territory.

From Laboqueria Arquitectura we develop the architectural project together with Muntant Arquitectura, proposing an intervention that preserves the original industrial character of the building while transforming it into a flexible, efficient space prepared to accommodate new community uses.

The proposal is committed to the reuse of existing materials, the reduction of the environmental impact of the intervention and the application of energy efficiency criteria, with a large interior courtyard as an organizing element that will physically connect the different cooperatives and activities that will coexist within the new facility.

In this first phase, the project has a planned investment of between 2.5 and 3 million euros and contemplates the rehabilitation of a building of more than 3,000 m², with a constructed area of ​​3,031.71 m² distributed over a ground floor and two floors. The works are scheduled to begin during the last quarter of this year and will last approximately one and a half years.

Cal Valeri will house the headquarters of the different driving cooperatives, as well as the workshop of the La Remolatxa Special Work Center, the Quàlia kitchen, the Airecel Social Club, a soup kitchen, training spaces and a multipurpose space open to the public with a library, playroom, bar area and a small stage space.

The project also foresees future phases of growth with new services, cooperative housing and other initiatives that reinforce the role of Cal Valeri as a node of the social economy of Ponent.

For Laboqueria Arquitectura, this project represents an opportunity to demonstrate how the rehabilitation of existing heritage can become a tool for social transformation. Recovering disused buildings, reducing resource consumption and generating shared spaces are strategies that contribute to building a more sustainable architecture with a positive impact on the territory and people.

The presentation of Cal Valeri has had a wide impact in the media, with publications in Nova Tàrrega, Tàrrega TV, Segre and Ponent Coopera and other media in the territory, which have highlighted the potential of the project as one of the future cooperative hubs of reference in Catalonia.