The site
The new High School is located in the La Girada neighbourhood, of recent creation, residential vocation and still in the process of construction. For the most part, it is made up of isolated blocks with a rectangular plan or in the form of towers, with some parcels of houses in a row. The plot has a rectangular shape and is located between Europa Avenue, through which it must have access, and the railway tracks. The adjacent plot is occupied by a Centre for Infant and Primary Education and, at the point of contact with it, ends one of the two axes that articulate the new neighbourhood in the shape of a cross: the Rambla de la Generalitat. Its topography seems to be the result of the contribution of land from other places rather than the natural shape of the land. The front along the Europa Avenue passes, for the most part, around the level 208 and rises progressively as it approaches the road BV-2119. At this point, the terrain continues to rise until you reach level 215, where you will find the bridge that saves the train tracks and allows you to connect with the neighbourhood that is on the other side of it. On the railroad front, the current lands range from approximately elevation 212 to 215, although significant changes are expected soon.

The building.
Two fundamental factors are involved in the definition of the general features of the new Vilafranca del Penedès High School: its position at the end of the urban hall that constitutes the Rambla de la Generalitat and its proximity to the railway lines along which the high-speed train runs. To them, it is necessary to add other conditions such as the very tight surface of the plot, its rectilinear and elongated geometry and the topography that has generated the contribution of land from external works. All these conditions favour the construction of a compact building, which optimises the available plot and responds to the urban and environmental conditions of the environment. The IES is therefore configured as a double building: an educational complex aligned with the Europa Avenue and a package of spaces that can be open to a wider public at the end of the Rambla de la Generalitat.

Access occurs in front of the mentioned promenade, with the sports courts to its right, on the border with the neighbouring CEIP (Centre for Infant and Primary Education). Opposite there is the package of spaces accessible to the public, to the left, the educational complex. A double portico allows access either to the outdoor space that articulates all the pieces or directly to the educational building. The main part of the playground is located behind the educational building, between it and the front of the railway tracks.

The educational complex has the shape of a comb, with the administration and classrooms occupying its "fingers" and the service and common use spaces connecting them. These common and service spaces are located on the side of the street, while the classrooms are on the side of the courtyard. The ground floor is used for administration and some classrooms for common use. The first floor is destined for high school and other shared classrooms. The second floor is for ESO (Middle School).

The stair cores are located in the service band facing the courtyards that open between the blocks of classrooms, taking advantage of the views towards the courtyard that these generate.
This arrangement, in addition to optimising the available space, allows to create a building capable of controlling the environmental conditions and distanced from the railway tracks.

In its configuration as High School 3/2 it has three floors and a total of three modules intended for administration and classrooms. The expansion to an institute of greater capacity will be made simply by adding one more module, so that it is not only easy to carry out but, in addition, the complex does not lose its general characteristics. The other building in the set, which houses the spaces that can occasionally be used by users who are not students, is arranged on two levels that coincide with the first two floors of the educational building. The ground floor is occupied by the changing rooms and the cafeteria, and the first floor by the large gymnasium.

The strip between the two buildings is the element that articulates the outdoor spaces intended for students' leisure: the one at the level of access from Europa Avenue, adjacent to the sports courts, and the one at the level of the first floor of the buildings, between the classrooms and the railway. It is also the element that facilitates the evacuation of the teaching building in case of fire and the one that favours social relations during leisure time. It is articulated as a series of walkways at the level of each of the building's floors connected by stairs that allow access to the courtyard and by a ramp, incorporated into the complementary services building, which facilitates accessibility to people with reduced mobility. All this element thus makes accessibility under cover possible between the various parts of the program and acts as a porch for the complex.