The winning 2017 Tile of Spain architecture + interior design projects

Last fall, ASCER (the Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturers’ Association) invited designers around the world to send their best work to the 16th edition of the Tile of Spain Awards. The projects could be located anywhere in the world, but had to significantly use Spanish ceramics and be completed between January 2015 - October 2017.

First-prize winners and special mentions were announced in each of the three categories: Architecture, Interior Design, and Final Degree Project. Scroll down to have a look at them.

ARCHITECTURE CATEGORY

First place: Bodega Mont-Ras by Jorge Vidal and Victor Rahola. Tiles by Cerámica Elias (cover image)

The panel of judges particularly valued the industrial and rustic-type materials used in the project, which also reflects the capacity of the chosen materials to adapt to the layout of the various spatial geometries, adding a strong sense of character to the entire setting.

Special Mention: Extension and renovation work on the Gon-Gar repair shop by NUA arquitectures

The challenges presented by this complex unitary construction were successfully resolved thanks to the use of ceramic materials that generated an overall aesthetic effect in a composition fully in keeping with its environment, adding a sense of modernity to an unusual urban location and programme.

Special Mention: The Santacreu Hotel on Tabarca by Diego López Fuster + SUBARQUITECTURA

The judges particularly valued the use of ceramic tiles that flow from the exterior to the interior, with a break in continuity in order to draw the eye to points of particular architectural interest, such as the open rooftop courtyard, as well as the use of ceramic tiles in the interior, forming a sharp chromatic contrast with the exterior.

INTERIOR DESIGN CATEGORY

First place: Three metro stations on Barcelona’s L9 Line by Garcés – de Seta – Bonet Arquitectes. Tiles by Porcelanosa.

The judges highlighted the contrast created by the use of clean, convenient and practical ceramic floor tiles in areas in contact with people traffic, and the stark, radical nature of the other surfaces. They especially appreciated the solution of applying a single material capable of overcoming all the challenges posed for floor coverings in public spaces.

Special Mention: Can Picafort by Ted’A arquitectes

The judges honored this project because of its imaginative use of a variety of materials interconnected through the use of ceramic tiles both in the interiors and exteriors.

‘Renovation of a home between party walls’by ARQUITECTURA-G

The judges valued the sense of maximum continuity achieved through the use of a single ceramic material on all the horizontal surfaces, forming an eye-catching chromatic contrast with the neutral tones of the other surfaces featured throughout the home, and which continues partially in the exterior.

FINAL DEGREE PROJECT CATEGORY

First Prize: “A Landscape Garden: restoration of the area around the Zirí Wall in the El Albaicín district of Granada. A new Residents’ Centre and Tourist Information Office” by Rafael López-Toribio Moreno, a student at the Granada School of Architecture

The judges appreciated the inclusion of a series of architectural elements in a complex outer area of the city. The project includes the sensitive use of building solutions that created a route dotted with a variety of settings and landscape perspectives. The territorial use of ceramic tiles conveys a sense of unity to the entire project. 

Special mentions were awarded to two projects: ‘Local resources’ by Laia Raventós Recasens and “Smithfield Abbey Campus” by Ricardo Fernández González. “A Catalogue of Aesthetic Ruins” by Jorge Sánchez Bajo also received a prize.