XLARK is an architecture practice founded in 2006 in Donostia-San Sebastián, currently led by architects Miriam Varela and Santiago Lorenzo. Their work combines professional practice, research, and teaching, developing projects for housing, public facilities, rehabilitation, and transformation of the built environment, for both the public and private sectors.
The studio works at different scales and across various programs, with a particular focus on the relationship between architecture, context, and everyday life. Their projects include the TOPIC Museum in Tolosa, the Kaputxinos Swimming Pools in Errenteria, the Amurrio Health Center, the expansion of the Astigarraga Sports Center, and several multi-family housing developments.
Their professional practice is complemented by ongoing applied research, especially related to housing and contemporary social transformations, addressing issues such as residential regeneration, aging, personal autonomy, and the relationship between spatial configuration and quality of life. This research extends to the academic sphere through the teaching of Architectural Design at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU).
At the same time, they developed an interest in landscape architecture, nature, and the relationship between architecture and the natural environment, incorporating concepts related to growth, time, and landscape transformation.
Their methodology understands the project as an open process in which architecture, research, landscape, and technical knowledge converge, with a keen eye to the context and contemporary needs.
