The Catalan firm Batlleiroig, founded in 1981 by Enric Batlle and Joan Roig, has designed the first residence for the British group Vita Student in Barcelona. With this project, Batlleiroig joins an innovative proposal that aligns with the firm's other works, where the primary focus is urban renaturalization, landscape regeneration, and the creation of healthy spaces. The firm promotes an innovative design seeking a new way of living for students and faculty, featuring increased contact with nature, a strong focus on sports areas, and large common spaces for the entire community.
From the architects' project description. The Vita Student residence is located in a privileged setting at the foot of the Collserola mountain range. Situated among green spaces, the building’s massing and color palette are adapted to its surroundings, with a design that seeks maximum integration with the outdoors.
A New Way of Living in Contact with Nature and Community
The volumetric layout of the complex frees up a large portion of the site, preserving the existing trees and providing the building with high-quality outdoor spaces in touch with nature. Additionally, thanks to this layout, all rooms enjoy excellent views of the outdoors, ensuring students and faculty have access to nature from every space.
The residence and its design promote a new way of living. On one hand, the rooms are designed and equipped for complete privacy, while the common spaces complement these services, fostering community life and interaction among students. The project includes communal spaces and facilities to host events, talks, and networking activities open to all students in the city, alongside study areas that expand Barcelona's offering of dedicated study spaces.
A Simple, High-Quality Facade Reflecting a Green-Dominated Environment
The facade is characterized by its simplicity, quality, and color, integrating seamlessly into the site's landscaped surroundings. The facade design and its modulation respond directly to the program, adjusting to two distinct conditions shaped by orientation and environment.
On one hand, the north and east facades face the street directly, requiring a more protected design that combines solid areas with openings for room balconies. On the other hand, the south and west facades are highly exposed to the sun and stand in direct contact with the garden; consequently, these facades are lighter, incorporating terraces and vegetation that provide solar protection and offer rooms high-quality outdoor spaces in connection with nature.
A Design Centered on User Well-Being, Sustainability, Architectural Quality, and Connection to Nature
The building was designed under strict sustainability and energy-saving parameters. Its thermal envelope and volumetric organization minimize energy demand, while highly efficient systems and measures reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption. As a result, the building consumes 85% less energy than a standard building meeting basic regulatory requirements.
About Batlleiroig
Batlleiroig is a multidisciplinary firm based in Barcelona that combines planning, landscape architecture, and architecture. Founded in 1981 by Enric Batlle and Joan Roig, it comprises over 130 professionals from various disciplines. At Batlleiroig, we have always understood design as a continuous process linked to the successful development of our professional activity. We view architecture as a profession that must merge creativity and technology to achieve maximum efficiency in the final result. Committed to the environment and involved in the search for solutions to address our planet's climate emergency, we have focused on Landscape and Nature since our founding.
This article was written by Elías Barczuk Pasamán. The translation is powered by AI.
