The Icon Marbella project in the Santa Clara Golf Resort in the Costa Del Sol is comprised of 20 signature villas with Patrick Murphy from Broadway Malyan’s Madrid studio appointed to design three of them.

Each of the villas will be developed on plots of around 1,500sqm and the project will also include a 120 bed boutique hotel. The project is a joint venture between Urbania International – a real estate developer with interests across Spain and Brazil – and US hedge fund Baupost.

Broadway Malyan director Patrick, who was one of six architects commissioned on the project, said the brief offered an opportunity to create a variety of high specification contemporary homes with different personalities.

He said: “This is a very exciting project with significant architectural freedom to create a range of spectacular homes aimed at buyers who are looking for lifestyle living in one of Spain’s most sought after residential areas.

“The design approach is very contemporary and minimal with clean, modern lines, floor to ceiling windows, spacious pools and seamless indoor-outdoor transitions in keeping with the beautiful Mediterranean surroundings.”

According to research by Knight Frank, Spain’s prime housing market is currently seeing significant growth with Marbella the most popular area for buyers from the Middle East and Latin America with the €1m to €3m price band the most active market segment.

Mark Faber from Urbania International added: “Marbella has long been a favoured destination for wealthy international visitors and the growing Spanish economy is driving an increasingly buoyant market for high end homes in this region.

“I have no doubt that these homes will attract significant buyer interest and set a new architectural standard for the area. Over 70 per cent of the villas have been sold and a second phase of 24 villas will be started in October 2016.”