Piscina & Wellness Barcelona 2023 is looking for young talent to design its wellness centre

In 2023 the traditional wellness centre that the Piscina & Wellness Barcelona trade fair builds at each edition of the trade fair will bear the signature of an architecture student. The exhibition, which is organised by Fira de Barcelona with the support of the Spanish swimming pool sector association ASOFAP, has launched a new competition aimed at students from national and international universities and schools of architecture to choose the design that will become a reality from 27 to 30 November next year at the Gran Via venue.

With this initiative, Piscina & Wellness Barcelona aims to encourage the creativity of future architecture professionals regarding the construction and equipment possibilities of wellness-spa centres and to promote the entrepreneurship of young talent. The most international trade fair in Europe in its sector will provide the winning project with recognition and visibility, opening doors and new options for professional and career development.

For the past four editions, the “Wellness Experience” wellness centre has been one of the main focal points of the trade fair, the only one in the world in its speciality to build a real, functioning wellness centre equipped with the latest innovations from the exhibiting companies. The objective of this space is to make the visiting professional public aware of how aquatic activities affect the health, well-being and quality of life of users and how the latest equipment and technologies help make a facility functional, profitable and respectful with the environment.

Thus, the “Wellness Experience” will occupy approximately 500 m2 and will have different areas such as the reception, waiting room, fitness room, spa area with sauna, beauty and physiotherapy treatment cabins, changing rooms, bathrooms and an active pool with water beds, hydromassage seats, waterfall, swan neck and hydrojets. The swimming pool will also host different activities related to health, relaxation, well-being and physical activity.

The competition is open to students of architecture schools and universities of any grade and country with a valid registration during the year 2022. The design must comply with the fundamental criteria of ephemeral architecture (ease and speed of assembly and disassembly) and include concepts and materials related to sustainability, innovation, functionality, recycling, connectivity and digitalisation. Candidatures must be submitted before 18 November 2022 and the jury of the competition – made up of members of the Working Committee of the Piscina & Wellness Barcelona Trade Fair – will announce its decision on 16 December 2022.

This competition extends Piscina & Wellness Barcelona’s links with the academic and university world, as since 2017 the trade fair has also been organising the International Competition for Architecture Students, which invites young people to imagine the design of a hypothetical aquatic centre, suitable for public bathing, in an emblematic location in the Catalan capital, such as Plaça Gaudí opposite the Sagrada Familia, the Port Vell or the magic fountain of Montjuïc. The trade fair will soon launch the call for entries with the challenge for 2023.

Piscina & Wellness Forum 2022 and 2023 edition
Piscina & Wellness Barcelona, organised by Fira de Barcelona in collaboration with ASOFAP on a biennial basis, is already preparing its next edition from 27 to 30 November 2013. The most international event in the European trade fair calendar for the sector that will again bring together the entire value chain of the swimming pool product for residential and public use, as well as facilities, equipment and accessories related to wellness, spa, fitness and decoration of exteriors. It will also include different knowledge, reflection, networking and recognition activities, as is the case with these two competitions aimed at architecture students and the Piscina & Wellness Awards, to project the values ​​of innovation in the swimming pool and wellness sector.

Prior to the event, on 1 and 2 December, the Barcelona trade fair and the ASOFAP employers’ association will be holding the 4th edition of the Piscina&Wellness Forum at the Official College of Architects of Madrid (COAM) with the aim of providing a forum in the years between the trade fair and the event to discuss trends, technologies and new applications for swimming pools and wellness, as well as to reflect on the regulatory framework, the economic context, professional qualifications and other current issues that impact on the activity of companies in the sector.

Barcelona, October 2022

Rules of participation in the competition here
Images of 2021 Wellness Experience here

Mª Gloria Dilluvio / María Dolores Herranz
Tel. 93 233 21 72 – 25 41
gdilluvio@firabarcelona.com / mdherranz@firabarcelona.com