Winner in the architecture category of the Tile of Spain’s annual awards, announced recently at Coverings Connect, the new home for the Research Institute of the Santa Creu i Sant Pau Hospital in Barcelona, concentrates the research activity of this foundation, previously scattered throughout the complex. Designed by PICHarchitects/Pich-Aguilera and 2BMFG Arquitectes to meet demanding bioclimatic criteria, and achieve energy efficiency, the enclosure is a permeable latticework of ceramic elements that control sunlight. Judges were impressed by the use of ceramics to mimic the buildings in the historic environment. Ceramic tile enveloped the façade of the existing building in a transparent skin to create a harmonious balance between the exterior and interior of the hospital. The latter features a glazed multicolor finish that evokes modernist domes, note the designers.
