Blog
Notes on environments with intent, premium residential development and the work of the studio.
shopping centres · 1 October 2026
The Square Metres Everyone Walks On and One Owner Pays For
In Spain, 30 shopping centres are going through refurbishment - more than 1,380,000 m², or 8.2% of the country's entire stock. The main question in a refurbishment like that is what to put in the communal area, the part that is not let and earns no rent. Three contenders compete for its budget, and what separates them is the line for running costs.
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hotels · 20 September 2026
New Marble Never Reaches the Review
Three out of four hotel works in Spain in the first half of 2026 are refurbishments of what is already built, and the works as a whole move more than €1,077 million. The money changes the condition of the building. The conversation about the hotel stays the same, because the description of a place lives in other people's words, and new finishes never get that far.
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public spaces · 31 August 2026
Shade now has an author
Barcelona runs a shade programme worth €11M and has put its three busiest locations out to competition, with architectural quality written into the brief. All three winning schemes take their form from their own place. That is how shade came to have an author, and with it a different conversation about money.
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process · 3 August 2026
The Seam Splits Where the Contract Ends
On the render the piece is seamless. In reality it is assembled through many hands, and the result is lost at the borders between them. What one signature changes across the whole route, from idea to installation.
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materials · 21 July 2026
The Piece That Only Asks for a Wash
316L stainless steel, PVD colour, electropolishing. Why we choose the most resistant metal that makes sense and the most proven technologies - and what that gives a council or a shopping centre.
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hotels · 13 July 2026
The First Sentence of a Hotel
A week after the trip, a hotel shrinks to a single sentence, the one a guest uses to describe it to friends. The next person chooses where to stay by that sentence, and it is written by the entrance and the lobby, in the first few seconds, before you reach the front desk.
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shopping-centres · 6 July 2026
The Christmas Designed in July
Every December, shopping centres share the same flow of families. It goes to the one where Christmas works as an environment: the reason a family chooses that centre and comes back. An environment like that takes three to four months to build. So the decision about December is taken in summer.
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hotels · 30 June 2026
The First Few Seconds Decide the Class of a Place
People read the class of a place in the first few seconds, from the communal areas. One precise piece in the lobby or the courtyard gives a development recognition, free reach on social media and a reason to return or to choose.
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shopping centres · 22 June 2026
One Shopping Centre Fills Up While the One Next Door Empties
Average footfall at Spain's shopping centres is flat, while the gap between them keeps widening. We look at what makes a visitor stay, and how to measure it.
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courtyards · 23 May 2026
The Buyer Decides on the Walk From the Car Park to the Entrance
The architecture is built, and the communal grounds stay at basic landscaping. This is the stretch where the premium buyer decides between neighbouring developments.
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concept · 18 May 2026
The Building Has an Architect. The Environment Has Nobody
The architect builds the building. The interior designer shapes the rooms. So whose job is the identity of the environment?
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