Almost 1,000,000 of our Stacker Packers have gone into a single building — and it happens to be one of the most famous buildings on Earth. La Sagrada Família, Antoni Gaudí's basilica in Barcelona, has been under construction since 1882 and is still, well over a century later, not finished. It survived its architect's death in 1926, it was paused by civil war, and it remains one of the most visited monuments in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is very possibly the only major building in the world where the construction programme is as famous as the finished structure will be.
That longevity is exactly what makes it such an unusual project for us to talk about. Most sites run for a few years and then stop needing supplies. La Sagrada Família has been an active construction site for over 140 years, and across that time it has needed a steady stream of ordinary structural components — including, on our own figures, almost 1,000,000 Stacker Packers.
The scale of it
Almost 1,000,000 is the figure we stand behind for the Sagrada Família's ongoing construction, and it is worth being clear about what that number actually is. It isn't a single delivery for a single phase of works — it is a cumulative total, built up across a build programme that has run, in one form or another, through generations of workers, architects and site engineers.
It is comfortably the largest quantity we have supplied to any one project, and this job earns its place on that basis alone. Where other case studies point to a named contractor or a specific installation date, this one stands on scale and duration: a near-million-unit total accumulated on one of the longest continuously active building sites in the world.
Why a build like this swallows shims by the thousand
The job a levelling shim does is a simple one, and our complete guide to levelling shims sets it out in full: structural elements almost never meet their bearing surfaces at a perfectly even gap, and that gap has to be closed precisely and predictably without ever compromising load transfer. On a conventional building — rectilinear frames, repeating floor plates — that problem turns up at every column base, every beam seat, every bearing plate, which is already enough to generate serious demand across a build.
Gaudí's design is anything but conventional. It is built from ruled surfaces, branching tree-like columns and organic, non-rectilinear geometry rather than the standard grid you find under most large structures — and architecture like that simply doesn't hand you neat, repeatable bearing details. Every interface is its own slightly different problem. On a building like this, a gap that is never quite standard isn't the occasional snag, it is closer to the default condition — and that is precisely the kind of work that generates sustained, decades-long demand for precise levelling shims at load-bearing interfaces throughout the build.
It also explains why a project of this duration never simply places one big order and stops. Work on La Sagrada Família has continued in phases for well over a century, progressing element by element as funding, design resolution and structural engineering allow — and a build that unfolds like that, over that length of time, needs a steady, ongoing supply of basic structural components rather than a single bulk delivery at the outset. Shims among them, roughly a million times over.
Frequently asked questions
How many Stacker Packers have been used at La Sagrada Família?
Almost 1,000,000. That is our published figure for the Sagrada Família, and it reflects cumulative use across the project's long, ongoing build programme — not a single delivery or a single phase of works.
Were ALIMATS® crane mats also used on this project?
No. This is a Stacker Packers project. Our ALIMATS® aluminium crane mats were not part of it — the confirmed product here is levelling shims. That sets it apart from some of our other case studies, such as the Co-op Live Arena, where both product lines were involved.
What are Stacker Packers used for on a project like this?
Stacker Packers are structural levelling shims. They close uneven gaps at load-bearing interfaces precisely and predictably, without compromising load transfer. On a building carrying as much organic, non-standard geometry as La Sagrada Família, those uneven gaps come up far more often than on a conventional rectilinear structure — which is exactly why the numbers climb the way they do.
Why is La Sagrada Família still under construction after so long?
It's one of the most famous unfinished buildings in the world for good reason. Designed by Antoni Gaudí, it began construction in 1882 and has continued ever since — through interruptions including Gaudí's death and periods of civil conflict — for well over a century. It remains an active, ongoing construction project and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Can Brilliant Ideas supply Stacker Packers for other heritage or long-duration restoration projects?
Yes. Stacker Packers work wherever a structure needs a precise, reliable levelling solution at a load-bearing interface, and that applies to heritage and restoration work every bit as much as to new-build construction. Get in touch to talk through a specific project.