JOSE BERGUA STUDIO

Professional experience

I graduated in 2003 from La Salle School of Architecture Barcelona. Since 2004 I have been registered in the Architects' Association of Catalonia (COAC).

From 2003 to 2010, in collaboration with three colleagues, I worked on a series of projects in Barcelona, Mallorca, Palencia and Granada. During those seven years we got recognition in some national competitions, including 90 social housing for the IBAVI in Mallorca, the refurbishment and change of use of the bull-fighting Arena in Palencia and a visitor centre and an elderly housing residence in Granada.

In 2010, looking for new challenges and a more international experience, I moved to London where I worked for two internationally recognised offices, David Chipperfield Architects and Sergison Bates architects where I was made Associate in 2017.

After a very enriching period of 12 years, in 2022 I moved back to Barcelona and founded Jose Bergua Studio.

David Chipperfield Architects

From 2010 to 2014, I worked at David Chipperfield Architects in London, where I participated on a number of projects and competitions in London, Oxford, Paris and Istanbul.

For a few months I worked on the final stages of The Hepworth Wakefield project, an art gallery in West Yorkshire, UK, named after the English artist Barbara Hepworth. The gallery houses the permanent collection of sculptures by Barbara Hepworth and others, as well as highly light-sensitive works on paper from the city of Wakefield’s collection of British art.

The building received the UK’s Museum of the Year Award 2017.

My work focused on the exhibition rooms where the work of Barbara Hepworth was displayed.

The Hepworth Wakefield. David Chipperfield Architects, © DCA

In 2011 I joined the project One Kensington Gardens in London.

This residential development is located on a prominent site in front of Kensington Gardens and within Chelsea’s De Vere Gardens conservation area. The project comprised 97 high-quality residential units and included the internal reorganisation of the site.

I was involved in this project for three years and my work focused on the design and construction drawings of the interior spaces, which included entrance halls, communal areas and spa. This work was carried out from the construction site office in Kensington Gardens.

One Kensignton Gardens, London. David Chipperfield Architects, © DCA

Sergison Bates architects

From 2014 to 2022, I worked at Sergison Bates architects, a practise which had a huge impact on my professional career and contributed massively to shaping me as an architect.

During my time at the London office, I had the opportunity of working on very interesting projects and meeting a group of incredibly talented architects, some of which became good friends. When I joined the studio I worked on Hampstead mansion block, a truly unique project in North London.

I was Project Architect from the early stages of the project to completion.

Hampstead mansion block, London. Sergison Bates architects, © Johan Dehlin

The project provides accommodation for older residents who wish to live independently but as part of a community. It is composed of two independent volumes that are connected at ground level, allowing for views through them and onto the green space at the rear of the site. The volumes are formed of chamfered, pointy and round bays, which break down the mass contributing to the integration of the volumetry in the roofscape of the adjacent streets and Camden’s conservation area.

The interior plans are a collection of interconnected rooms which radiate from the centre of the plan (stair hall) towards the edges, where the chamfered and round bays are located (living rooms). The centre of each apartment is occupied by a multisided room (dining space) which connects to the living room, kitchen and a loggia.

Hampstead mansion block, London.

In 2017, I was made Associate of the London office.

Soon after, I participated in the competition of the masterplan Petite Ile / City Gate in Brussels, in collaboration with NoArchitecten, Korteknie Stuhlmacher Architecten, AHA, Elseline Bazin and Boom Landscape, which was awarded with the first price of the architecture competition. An ambitious project of 74,000m2 that aims to create a city within a city, a social and functional mix called “the assembled city”.

I was Project Architect of the studio at the competition stage. During the project, I worked from the concept design, through the planning process, to the construction drawings phase, and led a team of architects who were involved in the design of four residential blocks and one light-industry building.

During my 8 years at Sergison Bates architects, I participated in a series of competitions and projects, which included the transformation of the Museum of London, in collaboration with the Swiss office Diener & Diener Architekten, a mixed used development in Saint-Vincent-De-Paul in Paris, which was awarded with the first price in the architecture competition, a large residential project and new urban neighbourhood of Tour & Taxis in Brussels and a residential quarter in Versailles, Paris.

Professional experience

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