Timber Segmented shell in Pyrenees by MPDA BarcelonaTech

The MPDA Master’s program at UPC School concludes each year with a built project that brings together innovation, sustainability, and community engagement. 

This edition took place in Alp, a mountain town in the Catalan Pyrenees, where students and faculty fully designed, engineered and built a new sports pavilion as a lightweight public structure for the local community.

Developed in just four months, the project combined computational design in Grasshopper, structural analysis with Karamba3d, and digital fabrication via CadWork to create an efficient segmented timber shell. The structure is formed by planar n-gons modules shaped as an antifunicular ribbed system, with optimized joints and a fabrication process that balanced precision, structural performance, and manufacturability. Components were produced with CNC machining at Tallfusta and LaserPenta, and pre-assembled before transport.

The final construction in Alp took place over one intensive week, during which students and faculty installed the foundation, assembled the prefabricated elements, and placed the protective membrane. Beyond the pavilion itself, the project offered a full-scale learning experience that connected advanced parametric design with real construction, leaving behind a sustainable and meaningful space for the town.

Credits

• Collaborator institution: Alp Municipality
• Students: Khalid Abbood, Bilgenur Balkiz, Mihir Bhamare, Agustina Couzier, Arvind Das, Rahel Degu, Helly Desai, Youssef Essam, Davis Gan, Sara Guessous, Pravin Kandasamy, Maciej Król, Dana Mneimneh, Jaume Monclús, Nathaly Osorio, Tomás Pérez, Sayed Sanobar, Sena Sezer, Damla Şişman, Anna Solà, Maria Tzavida, Martin Uquillas, Mehad Yasser.
• Faculty: Gerard Bertomeu, Quim Escoda, Enrique Soriano, Pep Tornabell, Rafael Hellín, Bruno García.
• Guest Professors: Almudena Majano, Antonio Lara, Matthew Tam, Simon Vorhammer
• Sponsors: Rothoblaas, Festool
• Fabrication Partners: Tallfusta , Sumeplast , Garnica , Laserpenta , Piloedre , Tecnodimension
• Software partners: Karamba3d, Cadwork
• Acknowledgments: Maria Tiana, Topografía Cerdanya and always to Daniel Piker
• Photography: Andrés Flajszer, Arvind Das

MPDA Master’s program at UPC School

Over 10 successful editions, MPDA has trained new generations of computational designers from all over the world, many of whom now work in leading international design and engineering offices.

Want to enroll? The next information session will be held on April 14th at 14:00.

MPDA is a 60 ECTS one-year program, structured in 4 months online and 5 months in person. During the program, you will learn advanced computational design tools and apply them to the design and construction of a numerically optimized, digitally fabricated building.