ARCH Faculty Project Wins Spanish Biennial Award

Vendrell’s 30 Units Housing Project earned an award at the 17th Spanish Biennial of Architecture and Urbanism (BEAU). Designed by Xavier Vendrell Studio in collaboration with Claudio Aguilo and Albert Domingo of DATAAE, the project was completed in January 2023 in Sant Just Desvern at the foot of the Sierra de Collserola, just outside of Barcelona. Vendrell’s 3,600-square meter development responds directly to Catalonia’s ongoing housing and affordability crisis, while pushing the boundaries of residential typology, environmental performance and social equity. With a compact ground floor topped by a square five-story volume, the building contains 30 apartments arranged around a circular central atrium that functions as both a social space and a bioclimatic engine. The courtyard collects cool air in summer and retains warmth in winter, allowing the building to shift between open and closed modes depending on the season.

Constructed with exposed concrete as the finish material, each floor includes five units—one two-bedroom and four three-bedroom apartments—with reduced circulation and no hierarchy between rooms.

“There is no primary bedroom,” Vendrell explained. “All rooms are equal, allowing the apartments to adapt to different family structures, shared living or work-from-home needs over time.”

Continuous perimeter terraces wrap the building, notching in at the corners to create generous outdoor rooms that reflect Spain’s climate and residents’ desire for exterior living space.

Curated by architects Ander Bados Sesma and Miguel Ramón López, the exhibition is titled flujos comun.es (common flows) and features 55 works spanning architecture, landscape architecture and writing that follow the theme “Architecture as a Policy for Change,” each reflecting on the role of the discipline in social, economic and environmental transformation.

Selection for the BEAU—Vendrell’s fifth inclusion since 1993—signals continued participation within Spain’s architectural discourse. Vendrell’s project was one of only 20 that received awards.

“Being selected means your work is relevant and recognized by your peers,” he said, noting that the exhibition also elevates the faculty and work of the College of Architecture, Design and Construction.

For residents, the impact is already tangible. The project has been warmly received— praised for its affordability, energy efficiency and strong connection to community and the city’s center—and highlighted with multiple publications.

Vendrell emphasized the success of the building also reflects a progressive public administration willing to challenge conventional housing models.

“To do a good project, you need a good client,” he said. “Here, the public administration pushed the housing typology and the idea of how people live—and that is a miracle.”

The BEAU will be on display in Ponferrada, Spain through Sunday, March 15.