The resulting campus combines adaptive reuse while preserving the historic integrity of the buildings, as well as adding lush greenery for its new tenants to enjoy.

The original campus was designed by famed Barcelona architect Manuel Baldrich I Tubau. Batlle I Roig kept Tubau’s historic design, but added their own modifications to the complex, as well as an additional building that sits between the original structures. An exoskeleton of sawn timber was added to the buildings’ facades at irregular angles. The skin creates a lively pattern on the glass walls, while also deepening the campus with nature by tying in the façade with the nearby woods.

The new building shares the same timber façade, with prefabricated painted steel panels, glass and U-glass making up the exterior. With the new building, a ground floor community space is created which encourages the professionals who are living and studying there to interact with one another. The architects’ renovations create a more cohesive and social building plan by reassigning the preexisting space.

Outside, the campus was given a green facelift. Abandoned asphalt playgrounds were replaced with grasses and gardens and courtyards were added as well as trees, fountains and groves that blend into the original character of the site. The resulting campus combines adaptive reuse with preservation of the historic integrity of the buildings, as well as adding lush greenery for its new tenants to enjoy.

+ Batlle i Roig Arquitectes

Via Architizer