— Big Scale

Utamed University

A Campus That Empowers Collaboration, Inspiration and Growth

A building that sheds its rigidity to embrace imagination. UTAMED transforms an old office block into a flexible, organic campus—an open universe for learning, creating, and dreaming.

Few stages in life are as inspiring as the beginning of university. Everything is new: ideas, people, experiences… the mind opens up, ready to form its own view of the world.
 
This is the energy that gave rise to UTAMED. The starting point was a closed, outdated office building: rigid, introverted, soulless. The transformation began by stripping it down to its skeleton—exposing its metal framework, conduits, and foundations as part of the architectural language.
 
From there, the design is freed. Curves become conceptual tools—connecting levels, breaking linearity, and generating fluid, organic forms. Floating walkways cross open voids and link the different areas, like thoughts drifting through space, constantly evolving.

The building opens from the inside and fills with life. Inner courtyards become gardens—communal spaces that breathe light and greenery. Trees are introduced into the heart of the campus, not as decoration, but as living elements of the learning environment.
 
To contrast the coolness of glass and metal, esparto is introduced—a natural fiber with acoustic and thermal qualities. Handwoven and deeply rooted in Andalusian tradition, esparto ties this university of the future to its cultural past and geographic context.
 
UTAMED is more than a university—it’s a tool to imagine the future. A space shaped by form, matter, vegetation, and movement. A place that emerges from what already exists, and pushes forward into what is yet to be conceived.

Difficulties
— Need to create a landmark building
— Pre-existing office building with no architectural identity
— Conceptually rigid and closed structure
— Challenge of creating a full university campus in a single building
— Very limited budget
— Complex property with legal and spatial constraints
Achieved goals
— A distinctive, representative building for a new university
— The original structure is broken and reimagined as a plastic, fluid form
— A full campus is created within the building itself
— Floating walkways, organic curves, and open green courtyards
— Exposed structural framework as a metaphor for openness and growth
— Integration of natural elements such as vegetation and esparto—a traditional handwoven Andalusian fiber connecting future and heritage
Awards
  • Design Educates Awards — Special Recognition in Architectural Design 2026
  • American International Innovative Design Award (AIIDA) — Science and Education — Platinum Award 2026
    American International Innovative Design Award Organizing Committee
  • Architizer A+Awards — Special Mention 2026
    Architizer
  • XX Buenos Aires International Architecture Biennial — Official Selection — HABITAR Central Exhibition 2026
    Buenos Aires International Architecture Biennial
  • CSCAE Architecture Awards — Finalist 2026
    Spanish Council of Architects’ Associations — CSCAE
  • Malaga Architecture Awards — Guerrero Strachan Award 2026
    Official College of Architects of Málaga
  • WAN Awards — Shortlist — Adaptive Reuse – Big 2026
    World Architecture News
  • Good Design Awards — Green Good Design 2025
    The Chicago Athenaeum & The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies
  • Architecture MasterPrize — Restoration & Renovation 2025
    Farmani Group
  • New York Architectural Design Awards — Institutional Architecture - Schools and Universities 2024
    International Awards Associate
  • Utamed University