The Focus Group celebrates 40 years looking to the future, renovates its headquarters and promotes Genesis. A project that consolidates the growth and 360° vision of the Focus Group’s activity around the performing arts, with an investment of 11 million euros and an approximate period of 20 months of works.

The project will involve the creation of a new facility for the city with two main activities: a theatrical exhibition space and a higher school of performing arts and crafts.

 

    • A new theatrical exhibition space unique in the city, equipped with state-of-the-art stage and technical equipment, designed to host contemporary creations and proposals of high artistic quality.
    • A unique training center in Europe for artists, cultural managers and show technicians, with the vocation of being an international reference space and a strategic tool for the development of talent and the professionalization of the sector.

 

The project was born with the desire to be an open, integrated and connected space with the city, capable of generating activity, knowledge and cultural impact.

The exceptional location of the headquarters in 22@ Barcelona, ​​at Ávila Street, 149-155, together with the conditions and potential of the space, have made it possible to promote this project, which takes the name of the independent theater group Gênesis Teatral, the seed that gave rise to Focus 40 years ago, and symbolizes the beginning of a new stage.

LET'S LOOK TO THE FUTURE

THEATER

Genesis is conceived as a new benchmark performing arts facility serving the performing arts community of Barcelona and the country. With a capacity for 500 spectators, the new theater is born with the aim of contributing to the modernization of the city’s cultural infrastructure, incorporating a state-of-the-art stage and technical equipment that will allow it to host productions of great artistic and technical demand.

The project unfolds as an integrated center for production, creation, and programming, with a top-tier cultural offering based on two strategic pillars:

 

    • Avant-garde, as a commitment to innovation and contemporary creation.
    • Risk, as a welcoming space for new formats, languages, and theatrical perspectives.

 

Genesis will also strengthen the connection between education and professional activity, acting as a direct gateway to the sector for the center’s students and promoting a two-way professional transition for future educators, with the aim of consolidating an ecosystem where the artistic world coexists and enriches itself.

Training center

Genesis will incorporate a leading training center with a 360° view of the performing and creative arts ecosystem. With capacity for 600 students, the center is configured as a unique project in Europe, aimed at training talent with a comprehensive perspective, connected to the sector and aligned with the present and future needs of the cultural industry.

Three Training Pillars as the Basis of the Model

The center will structure its offerings around three main areas, conceived as complementary and interconnected:

ARTISTIC TRAINING

  • Performance
  • Singing
  • Dance
  • Music

TECHNICAL TRAINING

  • Lighting
  • Sound
  • Machinery
  • Councilorship
  • Other specialties linked to the scene

MANAGEMENT TRAINING

  • Production
  • Management
  • Distribution
  • Marketing
  • Communication
  • Cultural Management

This proposal reinforces a comprehensive vision of performing arts, incorporating creative, technical, and management skills to train professionals prepared for a constantly evolving industry.

The center aims to become a vehicle for continuing education, capable of providing professional continuity for students and graduates, while also establishing itself as a point of reference for other groups: children, young people, seniors, non-professionals, and employees of the Focus Group.

This open and inclusive approach positions training as a cultural asset for the city, with the capacity to generate impact on the region and society.

Genesis aims to transform student’s talent into professional careers within the cultural industry through immersive and cross-disciplinary training connected to the sector, where education and industry collaborate to generate a positive impact on the region and society.

The project stems from the conviction that art and creativity schools have evolved to transcend the confines of the classroom. Today, education has broken the “fourth wall” to embrace industry, society, and technology, responding to the new needs and concerns of a generation that demands a broader and more realistic learning environment, connected to the professional world.

In this sense, Genesis will place collaboration between education and industry at the heart of its model, fostering knowledge transfer, direct experience with professional practice, and the creation of real opportunities for integration and growth.

Credits

A project by GRUPO FOCUS

Developer: Servicios del Espectáculo Focus S.A.

Basic and detailed design by Estudio de Arquitectura Picharchitecs + Pich-Aguilera

Based on a preliminary design by architects Marco Espinola and Eduardo Castillo

Urban Improvement Plan (PMU) authors: architects Jordi Peralta Fernández and Marco Vizcarra Pascual