This space for public use is further enhanced by the creation of three inner courtyards that provide daylight and natural ventilation, offer interesting lines of sight, and reveal the original structure of the building in all its magnitude. The main entrance to the archives is via the largest of these courtyards, which acts as an atrium and threshold to the public square, the agora, that occupies the ground floor.
This public space provides access to the complex’s various social and cultural spaces surrounding the central building (galleries, auditorium, seminar rooms), and the first and second floors are given over to areas for consultations and in house work. The agora is permeable, allowing multiple alternative approaches, connecting and accompanying the routes that link Gran Via with the neighbourhood of La Bordeta, and the new amenities with the new park at Can Batlló.