On 13 July, the Architecture and Sustainability Association (AUS), together with the COAC Open Group of Women Architects, organised a visit to the transformation and extension project of Escola Pia Sitges. Designed by AQUIDOS, the project demonstrates how architecture can help reshape learning environments through a sustainable, healthy and people-centred approach.
The visit was led by architects Carles Bárcena and Núria Garcia i Soto, partners at AQUIDOS, who shared the architectural, environmental and pedagogical principles that have guided the project. Throughout the tour, we learned how the intervention was carried out in phases, allowing the school to remain fully operational while turning the transformation process into an opportunity to rethink educational spaces.
The project is based on the reuse of the existing building, the renaturalisation of outdoor spaces, and the integration of passive environmental comfort strategies to create a school that is more open, healthier, more sustainable and better equipped to meet today’s educational challenges.
Beyond the technical solutions, the visit invited us to reflect on the role architecture can play in transforming learning environments and enhancing the well-being of the entire educational community.
At AUS, we continue to promote these visits because they allow us to explore inspiring projects first-hand, exchange knowledge among professionals, and foster discussion around a more sustainable, people-centred approach to architecture.
We would like to thank AQUIDOS, the COAC Open Group of Women Architects, Escola Pia Sitges, and everyone who took part in the visit for making this enriching experience possible.
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Would you like to take part in activities like this?
If you are interested in becoming part of this network of professionals committed to sustainability and taking part in debates, visits, and other activities, we encourage you to join AUS.
For more information, you can contact us at auscatalunya@coac.cat.