A giant Zara Barcelona flagship store has opened its doors at Number 5, Plaça de Catalunya, Barcelona’s tourist and commercial epicentre.

Zara describes the store as one of its “most emblematic”, housed in a 1930s property which has been fully refurbished and recovered for the city. It has more than 3600 sqm of space spread over three floors, housing the Zara Woman, Man and Kids collections.

The new Zara Barcelona shop occupies a building designed in 1931 as the Barcelona head office of Banco de Bilbao by Basque architect Eugenio Pedro Cendoya, also responsible for the Montjuïc National Palace, built to accommodate the World Fair celebrated in the city in 1929.

The architectural plans devised for this new store, spearheaded by Coruña-based architect Elsa Urquijo, focused on preserving the former bank’s original architectural treasures such as its impressive glass dome, the atrium flanked by columns and decked with the marble floors characteristic of the public buildings of the time and the murals decorating the pedestrian staircase. The interior is dominated by a pale colour palette and textures that tone down the spaces. The layout of the store fittings was articulated around free-standing units in neutral tones that place the spotlight on the brand’s collections and the building’s impressiveness.

“The result is a diaphanous and uncluttered retail space with a ground floor open to the city and two upper floors demarcated by the majestic central space that is visible from anywhere in the store, bathed at all times by the daylight filtered in through its glass dome,” says Zara parent Inditex.

In keeping with Inditex’s Environmental Plan, the new store has been built to stringent green building standards, sustainability criteria applying to its actual construction as well as ongoing operation and usage. Over half of Inditex’s worldwide stores are now eco-efficient, implying electricity and water savings of 30 per cent and 40 per cent respectively compared with conventional stores.