SLOW STUDIO AT THE COAC PROFESSIONAL BREAKFAST ON WORK–LIFE BALANCE AND HEALTH

 

Last Monday, October 19, Slow Studio took part in a new session of Esmorzars Professionals, promoted by the Barcelona branch of the Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC), this time focused on work–life balance and health in the practice of architecture. After our participation in the first session of the series, focused on marketing and sales in architecture, we are once again sharing our experience in a space for reflection on the profession’s current challenges.

The session, held in the COAC Sala Mirador, featured our partner Jade Serra, also Vice President of the COAC Agrupació d’Arquitectura i Sostenibilitat, and Pep Quílez, architect and project manager at Estudi Vila Blanch. The event was moderated by Bruguers Bosch, the young representative on the COAC Barcelona Board of Directors.

In an increasingly demanding professional context, work–life balance has become one of the main challenges for architecture practices. Work organisation, time management, professional responsibilities and team wellbeing are issues that directly affect both people’s quality of life and the sustainability of the practices themselves.

In Slow Studio’s case, this reflection also stems from personal experience. We are a family architecture studio, founded and led by Víctor Vergés and Jade Serra, partners both professionally and personally, and parents of three children together. This reality means that work–life balance is part of our day-to-day life and the decisions we make in managing the studio.

During the conversation, Jade referred to the importance of reaching agreements as a couple in order to reconcile professional and family responsibilities. Sharing a business and a family project requires dialogue, agreements and an ongoing review of how responsibilities are distributed, time is organised and priorities are set. An experience that highlights that work–life balance does not depend solely on individual time management, but also on shared decisions and on how work is structured.

The event thus opened up a space for reflection on how we practise the profession and how we can move towards working models that make it possible to align the demands of architectural practice with personal life. A reflection that goes beyond the internal organisation of practices and invites us to revisit dynamics, priorities and ways of understanding professional commitment.

At Slow Studio, we consider it essential to incorporate people’s wellbeing into the way we understand and manage architecture. Committing to a more sustainable professional practice also means paying attention to working conditions, project planning and the balance between professional and personal responsibilities.

We would like to thank the COAC Barcelona branch for organising these spaces for meeting and reflection, Bruguers Bosch for leading the conversation, and Pep Quílez for sharing his experience and contributing to a dialogue that is essential for the future of our profession.

Below, we are sharing the link to the session recording on the COAC YouTube channel.