The City of Justice of Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, built by FCC, is one of the nine European buildings honoured in the annual awards granted by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The design was created by the teams of Britain's David Chipperfield and Fermín Vázquez, who is originally from Madrid but now living in Barcelona. The list of RIBA distinctions also includes the Campus Palmas Altas in Seville, the work of British architect Richard Rogers and his associates.

"The RIBA awards are a reflection of not only the state of British architecture, but also its economics," said the president of the RIBA, Ruth Reed, who indicated, "In the middle of the worst economic recession of the 45 years of the RIBA's history, this year's awards prove that, although times are hard for architects, great buildings are still being built all over the country and beyond."

The RIBA, one of the most-prestigious associations of architects of the world, gave one of its past awards to the Veles e Vents building for the America's Cup, in which Chipperfield and Vázquez also worked together.

The City of Justice in Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat is the largest civil-engineering project in the Catalonian Regional Department of Justice's Judicial Infrastructure Plan.