As the world begins the process of emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be taking a look at how Chapman Taylor’s international studios are responding to changed outlooks, changed market requirements and changed approaches to how we work as they adjust to the “new normal”. First in the series is our Madrid studio, where work continued on a wide range of Spanish and international projects throughout the pandemic. Madrid Director José Carlos Diez here outlines the sectors which are thriving for the studio and the ways in which the studio’ focus is evolving.

Emerging from the pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, and up until February 2021, most members of the Madrid team were working from home, with just a handful of key staff remaining studio-based. The change to remote working was seamless and operated very well, with most of our key projects continuing.

Although we remained active throughout the pandemic, since February 2021, we have experienced a surge in new projects and enquiries internationally and have been extremely busy. Since April, everyone has been back in the studio on at least two days every week, as we see great advantages to bringing people back together in one place, particularly when we are busy.

However, to ensure social distancing, we aren’t yet bringing everyone in on the same days. We expect to be in a position to bring everyone back at the same time by September, or sooner if the speed of the national vaccination programme allows it.

The sectors in which we are busiest

Retail, leisure, office and residential asset enhancement projects have been a prominent part of our work over the past year, with successful projects completed in 2020 at TresAguas in Madrid, Parque Rioja in Logroño and Alcora Plaza in Alcorcón, helping to diversify the existing offers while providing a more exciting visual experience. Our refurbishment of the landmark Los Cubos office building in Madrid also completed in 2020, transforming the working environment for the benefit and wellbeing of its occupants.

This year, we will see the opening of the transformed Parque Corredor in Madrid, for which we provided the concept design, and the new-build Bahia Real Retail Park in Santander. About to begin construction is the much-anticipated, BREEAM Excellent, Breogán Park retail and leisure development in A Coruña, on Spain’s north-west coast, while the mixed-use Cinco District near Lisbon has now acquired building permission. The refurbishment of the Cretéil Soleil shopping centre to the east of Paris is now well advanced on site, as is that of La Marina shopping centre in Alicante, where we are creating new leisure units, F&B and entertainment terraces and an exciting new façade. Other refurbishments include the LR15 residential building in Madrid and a shopping centre in Portugal.

We are engaged on several projects in a range of sectors in the Middle East, including mixed-use developments in Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. Among several current projects in Qatar, we are designing the façade for The View Hospital, a new luxury private hospital in Doha. Perhaps our most high-profile project at the moment is our 1.91 million m² mixed-use masterplan for Airport City in Jeddah, which will be an exciting and sustainable gateway development in a strategic position beside the city’s international airport. We are also involved with another large, mixed-use development in the country.

We have also been designing large mixed-use schemes in Hungary, Greece, Ibiza, Colombia, Mexico and Georgia, among other international locations, while we have also been collaborating with our colleagues in Shanghai on a mixed-use Office park concept in China.

The future direction

As mentioned, we are receiving lots of new project enquiries and we are working on the early stages of several new projects. One interesting area for us is urban regeneration; we are working on the concept stages for two very interesting projects of that type in Madrid, another in Barcelona, as well as an interesting heritage-led urban design for Orihuela, just to mention a few of many. We envisage a lot more urban regeneration work as our urban spaces adapt to new challenges, particularly in terms of rethinking our town and city centres.

We are also working on transport-orientated developments internationally, including the aforementioned Airport City in Jeddah and a transport logistics and warehouse project in southern Spain. Transport-related hubs and mixed-use districts will be a growing sector for us as local authorities and developers increasingly come to recognise what great potential they and their surroundings have for commercial and social development.

Residential work is also a key focus for us, from heritage-sensitive renovations such as the LR15 project mentioned above to residential-led masterplans such as Nuevo Sur in Monterrey, Mexico (where we are also working on La Pera mixed-use masterplan) and student housing in Colombia. Indeed, residential work forms the largest income generator for the Madrid studio in terms of the sectors in which we work, at more than 40%.

Retail asset enhancement will remain an important sector as shopping centres and other retail schemes continue to diversify and to rethink the experiences they provide, with more leisure, entertainment, office and other uses included. We are seeing fewer and fewer new retail-dominated developments, with a much greater emphasis now on a sustainable and vibrant mix of uses.

A dynamic and growing studio

We have a young and dynamic team in Madrid, and we are now a well-established presence in the Spanish market, but we are determined to continue to raise the quality of our architectural and design work as well as to strengthen the team through recruitment, mentoring and ongoing training. We also want to collaborate more with our international colleagues, to build on the successful collaborations we have already enjoyed with Chapman Taylor’s studios in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and China. This aspect – being able to combine our experience in local presence and knowledge with a major international network and its great pool of resources – is a crucial part of our appeal to our clients.

Our aim is to become a key go-to name in several sectors of the Spanish market, particularly mixed-use, residential, urban design, office and transportation, while consolidating our reputation in the retail-led sector and exploring possibilities for new formats for our studio, such as modular construction, co-working, co-living, student housing and Build-to-Rent. Our international work, adaptability, creativity and ability to offer a full service, from feasibility to delivery in a wide range of sectors, means that we are well-placed to thrive in the post-pandemic environment.

Emerging from the pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, and up until February 2021, most members of the Madrid team were working from home, with just a handful of key staff remaining studio-based. The change to remote working was seamless and operated very well, with most of our key projects continuing.

Although we remained active throughout the pandemic, since February 2021, we have experienced a surge in new projects and enquiries internationally and have been extremely busy. Since April, everyone has been back in the studio on at least two days every week, as we see great advantages to bringing people back together in one place, particularly when we are busy.

Emerging from the pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, and up until February 2021, most members of the Madrid team were working from home, with just a handful of key staff remaining studio-based. The change to remote working was seamless and operated very well, with most of our key projects continuing.

Although we remained active throughout the pandemic, since February 2021, we have experienced a surge in new projects and enquiries internationally and have been extremely busy. Since April, everyone has been back in the studio on at least two days every week, as we see great advantages to bringing people back together in one place, particularly when we are busy.

However, to ensure social distancing, we aren’t yet bringing everyone in on the same days. We expect to be in a position to bring everyone back at the same time by September, or sooner if the speed of the national vaccination programme allows it.

The sectors in which we are busiest

Retail, leisure, office and residential asset enhancement projects have been a prominent part of our work over the past year, with successful projects completed in 2020 at TresAguas in Madrid, Parque Rioja in Logroño and Alcora Plaza in Alcorcón, helping to diversify the existing offers while providing a more exciting visual experience. Our refurbishment of the landmark Los Cubos office building in Madrid also completed in 2020, transforming the working environment for the benefit and wellbeing of its occupants.

This year, we will see the opening of the transformed Parque Corredor in Madrid, for which we provided the concept design, and the new-build Bahia Real Retail Park in Santander. About to begin construction is the much-anticipated, BREEAM Excellent, Breogán Park retail and leisure development in A Coruña, on Spain’s north-west coast, while the mixed-use Cinco District near Lisbon has now acquired building permission. The refurbishment of the Cretéil Soleil shopping centre to the east of Paris is now well advanced on site, as is that of La Marina shopping centre in Alicante, where we are creating new leisure units, F&B and entertainment terraces and an exciting new façade. Other refurbishments include the LR15 residential building in Madrid and a shopping centre in Portugal.

ciWe are engaged on several projects in a range of sectors in the Middle East, including mixed-use developments in Qatar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia. Among several current projects in Qatar, we are designing the façade for The View Hospital, a new luxury private hospital in Doha. Perhaps our most high-profile project at the moment is our 1.91 million m² mixed-use masterplan for Airport City in Jeddah, which will be an exciting and sustainable gateway development in a strategic position beside the city’s international airport. We are also involved with another large, mixed-use development in the country.

We have also been designing large mixed-use schemes in Hungary, Greece, Ibiza, Colombia, Mexico and Georgia, among other international locations, while we have also been collaborating with our colleagues in Shanghai on a mixed-use Office park concept in China.

The future direction

As mentioned, we are receiving lots of new project enquiries and we are working on the early stages of several new projects. One interesting area for us is urban regeneration; we are working on the concept stages for two very interesting projects of that type in Madrid, another in Barcelona, as well as an interesting heritage-led urban design for Orihuela, just to mention a few of many. We envisage a lot more urban regeneration work as our urban spaces adapt to new challenges, particularly in terms of rethinking our town and city centres.

We are also working on transport-orientated developments internationally, including the aforementioned Airport City in Jeddah and a transport logistics and warehouse project in southern Spain. Transport-related hubs and mixed-use districts will be a growing sector for us as local authorities and developers increasingly come to recognise what great potential they and their surroundings have for commercial and social development.

Residential work is also a key focus for us, from heritage-sensitive renovations such as the LR15 project mentioned above to residential-led masterplans such as Nuevo Sur in Monterrey, Mexico (where we are also working on La Pera mixed-use masterplan) and student housing in Colombia. Indeed, residential work forms the largest income generator for the Madrid studio in terms of the sectors in which we work, at more than 40%.

Retail asset enhancement will remain an important sector as shopping centres and other retail schemes continue to diversify and to rethink the experiences they provide, with more leisure, entertainment, office and other uses included. We are seeing fewer and fewer new retail-dominated developments, with a much greater emphasis now on a sustainable and vibrant mix of uses.

A dynamic and growing studio

We have a young and dynamic team in Madrid, and we are now a well-established presence in the Spanish market, but we are determined to continue to raise the quality of our architectural and design work as well as to strengthen the team through recruitment, mentoring and ongoing training. We also want to collaborate more with our international colleagues, to build on the successful collaborations we have already enjoyed with Chapman Taylor’s studios in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and China. This aspect – being able to combine our experience in local presence and knowledge with a major international network and its great pool of resources – is a crucial part of our appeal to our clients.

Our aim is to become a key go-to name in several sectors of the Spanish market, particularly mixed-use, residential, urban design, office and transportation, while consolidating our reputation in the retail-led sector and exploring possibilities for new formats for our studio, such as modular construction, co-working, co-living, student housing and Build-to-Rent. Our international work, adaptability, creativity and ability to offer a full service, from feasibility to delivery in a wide range of sectors, means that we are well-placed to thrive in the post-pandemic environment.