Architects on the bread line

The architects at the Sabadell H Arquitectes Studio have the work and they have the recognition. What they are lacking is the money. Although they recently won the Enor Award for young architects, with a prefab gym they built in Barberá del Vallés (Barcelona), they are finding it hard to make ends meet. Increasingly, they have to deal with projects that require more work and more imagination, on a tighter budget. For instance, when they signed on for the executive project of Casa 712 in Gualba (Barcelona), the bank went back on its word, and instead of the 240,000-euro mortgage it had promised, it only loaned half the amount. So the architects were forced to change their plans and reduce their fees.