The winning team has been named in an open international competition to transform the 410ha A Panda da Dá estate in Galicia, Spain The overall winner – picked ahead of four rival finalist teams – is a collaboration between Atelier Ander Bados, Estudio Copla, Bamba Studio and TO Arquitectura. Their winning ‘forest of celebration’ concept was praised by the jury for its ‘architectural coherence, technical precision, and ability to create diverse spaces open to evolution.’ The proposal integrates contemporary architecture with the site’s heritage while also delivering new flexible spaces allowing existing forestry activities to coexist alongside proposed new uses. The other finalists included Arrokabe Arquitectos from Santiago and Brandão Costa Arquitectos from Porto. A collaboration between Madrid’s CoLab and London’s Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble, and João Mendes Ribeiro with Luísa Bebiano completed the shortlist. The non-anonymous, two-stage competition – organised by local timber company Finsa and the David Chipperfield-founded Fundación RIA – sought to transform the remote farmstead into a new space dedicated to the sustainable management of the surrounding territory. The call for concepts set out to identify a range of innovative solutions that could help to rehabilitate the architecture and landscape of its 410ha site while also promoting new training and research activities and facilitating visits from organisations involved in the sustainable management of Galicia’s timber. Located close to the settlement of As Pontes de García Rodríguez, the A Panda da Dá estate is a large forestry plantation which has been owned by Finsa for more than three decades.  The main cluster of buildings on the estate includes a staff office and several disused structures. The contest invited architects, architectural firms, and multidisciplinary teams of any nationality to draw up concepts to transform the site into a new local and international hub for sustainable forest management. Contest site: A Panda da Dá, Galicia Credit: Image © Adrián Capelo – Fundación RIA The competition comes seven years after the independent non-profit agency and thinktank Fundación RIA was founded by the British architect David Chipperfield. Concepts were judged 40 per cent on design quality, 20 per cent on outdoor spaces, 20 per cent on sustainability, 10 per cent on feasibility and 10 per cent on economics. The judging panel included two representatives from Finsa along with Aurora Armental of Estar Studio, Graça Correia of Correia/Ragazzi and Carme Pinós of Estudio Carme Pinós who jointly won an earlier contest held by Fundación RIA to transform the Lourizán estate into a forestry complex. The five shortlisted teams each received an honorarium to participate in the second design phase of the contest. The overall winner will receive a €20,000 prize and the remaining finalists will each receive a €5,000 prize. Contest site: A Panda da Dá, Galicia Credit: Image © Adrián Capelo – Fundación RIA #competition #results #winner #galician #timber