Gaüses, 2025

School in Gaüses, designed by TEd’A arquitectes, has been awarded Regional Winner Europe at the Holcim Foundation Awards 2025, one of the most relevant international recognitions for sustainable architecture, with xmade as part of the project team.

The project proposes a new model for a rural school in Catalonia, where architecture, landscape and pedagogy are closely interconnected. The design combines compact built volumes with outdoor learning spaces, extending educational activities beyond the classroom and reinforcing the relationship between the school and its natural surroundings.

The building is based on the use of local, low-impact materials and passive design strategies to ensure thermal comfort, natural lighting and long-term durability. Sustainability is addressed not only as a construction approach, but also as a pedagogical tool, turning the building itself into an integral part of the learning experience.

xmade contributed to the project through its involvement in the development and coordination of the building envelope, supporting with the integration of the materiality research and the environmental strategies, in order to achieve architectural coherence within the overall design concept.