San Sebastian is a breathtaking town in Northern Spain, on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. The relaxing atmosphere and stunning views is what attracted a new culinary school to its hillside.

The Basque Culinary Center wanted to set up shop in the charming town, and when we say set up shop, we mean set up shop! The new cooking school wanted a huge, state of the art facility to give their students large kitchens, workrooms, and labs for hands on learning, theaters for lectures, and lounges and cafeterias for those well deserved breaks. Basque contracted out local architecture firm Vaumm Arquitectos to build their dream school. Vaumm created a modern golden building into the hill of San Sebastion. The main structure is designed with a stacking effect; the architects created each level to be a rectangular shape with radial corners, then stacked them on top of one another. The walls of the building in the courtyard are cladded with perforated gold metal panels and filled with cascading walkway which reach from one side of the establishment to the other. The architects designed a state of the art theater with wood floors, creamy colored chairs, and an acoustical walls and ceiling system which incorporates lighting. Our favorite feature is the way the building is light up at night! The gold building is finely lit, resembling a glowing star that smashed into the mountain.

Photography: FG+SG fotografia de arquitectura