When we started to think about a new series of blogs for Active Profile, a natural one for me seemed to be 'My favourite building'. Between us, I thought this would be quite an easy one for me to do but when I started to think of all of the buildings I have seen in person or in books, the places I have visited, stayed in or interacted with, it turned out to be quite a tough call.

I started simple and thought of my new home. It took us a year and a half of phone calls, surveys and searches before we finally moved in to it, so it should be my favourite building. But lovely as my new house is, for this, I knew I needed to think bigger...

Growing up, I was always interested in buildings and architecture, visiting Manchester, Liverpool and Chester on quieter Sunday afternoons, always taking the time to look up to actually see and enjoy the buildings that I was walking past. I even studied architecture for a short time. I read endless books by Le Corbusier and Nikolaus Pevsner, after which I certainly knew my Doric from my Corinthian columns, information I have happily been able to retain 20 years on, you can test me on it if you like...

I have also had the good fortune to visit lots of beautiful European cities, which feature amazing buildings and architecture, including Venice, Florence, Rome and Amsterdam. But by far and away my favourite city has to be Barcelona, and my favourite building in the Catalan capital is Casa Mila, nicknamed La Pedrera (the stone quarry) because of its vast, undulating stone exterior.

After ambling up the Passeig de Gracia taking in some of Gaudi's other works including the weirdly wonderful Casa Batllo, which resembles a sleeping Catalan dragon, at the top on the right hand side of the street is La Pedrera. Built between 1906 and 1912 by Antoni Gaudi, La Pedrera is just huge and it really takes your breath away.

On my first visit to Barcelona in 2002, it was the first building I sought out because I didn't believe that it could look how it did in the many guide books and rough guides I studied in advance.

Since then, I have been back to Barcelona many times and I always make sure that La Pedrera is on the itinerary. I have visited it by day, touring the imaginative interior and amazing rooftop with hordes of holiday makers in the searing July heat. And also by night, when attending an event on the rooftop with a cold glass of cava and a string quartet to entertain us.

In my view, the building's stunning curves and breathtaking architecture are second to none. This is especially true inside, in some of the remaining apartments. If you do have the good fortune to pay it a visit, don't forget to look up because the curved walls and intricate ceilings are beautifully detailed.

I could go on but I won't bore you, just make sure that next time you go to Barcelona, you seek it out if you haven't already. If you're on a budget, pop into the Habitat-esque 'Vincon' (which is a marvel in itself) and go to the first floor of the shop. At the back of the building there is a courtyard which sits directly next to La Pedrera so you can see parts of its curved exterior from a completely different angle.

To think that people actually lived day to day in La Pedrera in the early 20th Century when Gaudi was actively developing his works of art in the city, is fantastic. I would certainly have liked to have lived there and would happily have gone through a year and a half of waiting, solicitor's calls and land registry searches to do so.