UDIT's Colombia Street building, designed by architect Enrique Barrera, awarded at the Architecture Madrid Awards 2024

The Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM) has hosted the celebration of the first edition of the Architecture Madrid Awards, the awards that recognise and reward international talent, positioning the Community of Madrid as a focus for design at world level.

In these awards, the best architects and designers, renowned design institutions, product manufacturers and different developers are recognised for their innovation and creativity, as well as for their contribution to the world's architectural design industry, providing a broad framework for the global design industry, communication and cooperation.

In this sense, the UDIT building, University of Design, Innovation and Technology, located at 44 Colombia Street and designed by the prestigious architect Enrique Barrera, has been recognised with the second prize in the Architecture Madrid Awards 2024.

Enrique Barrera, a successful career and a close link with UDIT

Enrique Barrera graduated as an architect from the ETSAM in 2000 and has developed an extensive professional career as a designer and interior designer.

Founder of the studios Haiku Arquitectura and In Design We Trust, he was Director of the Degree in Interiors and lecturer at UDIT for many years. He has also been a lecturer at the UCJC School of Architecture and guest lecturer at the ETSAM and lecturer at the School of Architecture and the Habitat at the UDEM in Monterrey (Mexico).

In the field of architecture, he has worked on works such as the UDIT building on Calle Colombia, inaugurated in September 2023, and award-winning housing such as the 166 VPPs on Calle Honrrubia 9 in Madrid. He has also contributed to the design of iconic public spaces, such as Plaza de San Cayetano and Plaza de Tirso de Molina, both located in Madrid.

In the field of interior design, his projects in the field of catering are particularly noteworthy. Among his achievements are unique restaurants such as the INCLAN BRUTAL BAR, the recent BESTIAL or the OMERAKI Restaurant of Alberto Chicote, with whom he has worked on the popular television programme "Pesadilla en la Cocina", where he has designed more than 50 refurbishments, leaving his mark in the field of design and gastronomic renovation.

A jury composed of Carlos Lamela, Tristán López-Chicheri, Carlos Rubio Carvajal, Lázaro Rosa-Violán and Paloma Sobrini.

The Architecture Madrid Awards are sponsored by the China-Europe International Design Association (CEIDA), co-organised by the association Madrid World Capital of Engineering, Construction and Architecture (MWCC) and China International Interior Design Network (CIID88) and with the support of Fearless Magazine and the French magazine Design Converge.

The jury for the awards was composed of a large group of architects of national and international prestige, among them the renowned Carlos Lamela, Tristán López-Chicheri, Carlos Rubio Carvajal, Lázaro Rosa-Violán, Paloma Sobrini, Sara Folch, César Vidal, Eva Cuesta, Javier Pioz and José Antonio Granero, giving rise to a group of professionals in the field of architecture capable of combining the talent, rigour and experience required for this decision.

Colombia, 44: An iconic building for UDIT

Located on Calle Colombia in Madrid, the building designed by Enrique Barrera came into operation in September 2022 and has a surface area of 5,000 m2.

This large educational space consists of five floors and houses new classrooms, an outdoor leisure area, as well as an indoor leisure area, a multi-purpose space and an outdoor chill out area.

It is a fully domotised building in which technology is applied to intelligent control and automation, enabling efficient management of energy use. In this sense, it is a High Energy Efficiency building in which the use of materials specially designed for the comfort of the students, such as thermal insulation and acoustic insulation, stands out.

Since its inauguration, it has become an iconic building for the University, also serving as the venue for important cultural and business events such as the Madrid Illustration fair Ilustrafest, the cycle of conferences on graphic design Referentum Talks or the entrepreneurship and videogames fair Match In Games.