A methodology for the design of two-layer hierarchical control systems is presented. The high layer corresponds to a system with slow dynamics, whose control inputs must be provided by subsystems with faster dynamics placed at the low layer. Model Predictive Control laws are synthesized for both layers and overall convergence properties are established. The use of different control configurations is also considered by allowing the switching on/off of the subsystems at the low layer. A simulation example is reported to witness the potentialities of the proposed solution. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.