The project for the Industry Memory Center (CMI) in São João da Madeira presents itself as a new concept that transforms the way Industrial Tourism is understood and presented and how the existing architectural heritage is valued, without any ruptures or contradictions. The configuration of the plot and the pre-existing buildings set the guidelines for the development of the project: a careful and punctual intervention is proposed, mainly in terms of restoration and rehabilitation, highlighting the historical value of the Quinta do Rei da Farinha Palace building. The intervention aims to preserve as much as possible of the building’s architectural qualities, having carried out a rigorous and exhaustive survey of the physical and morphological characteristics of the existing building, seeking to analyze and act upon them.

The proposed new construction adheres to the existing building, complementing it, in an act of valorization of the pre-existence without ever failing to represent the mark of contemporary architecture and the transformative nature of the intervention. In addition to the functional and aesthetic benefits, this approach also makes it possible to carry out an unobtrusive intervention in the Palacete, thus elevating it to the status of an integral part of the exhibition itself: the Palacete is also, in itself, a museum piece, an exhibition element and a historical testimony to the city itself.

Calm, discreet, silent, the place didn’t notice her. Arrábida, so close by, is the protagonist of a purpose that it wants to maintain. To frame? It is not necessary. Art doesn’t need a frame, nor a shadow, nor an excess of light… it just needs to exist.

It is about the place that this bridge speaks to us, of its vegetal and mineral escarpments, on one side the houses over the river where there is no space to rest a pillar, just keep the scales and relationships, the paths, the romantic of a route that it connects us and makes the city; on the other side, the plant that preserves the memory of the landscape that it is important to keep.

The bridge wants to be a result and not an experience, in Porto there is no hesitation… it is the past and the future, time and its awareness that lead to a solution: the purpose only fulfills the desire for intelligence that the work justifies, without any presumption or vassalage… but aware of the place and time that defines and marks us!

Everything already exists in this place. Even bridges that connect and separate us, colleges and shopping centers, intense traffic and paths of passion, atavism and futurism, contradictions… shadows of trees and breaks, sunsets and morning fogs, river waters and sea tides, watercolors of the Cross and abstractions by Ângelo, texts by Agustina in plans by Oliveira and, from above, Cardoso, Eiffel and so many others assure that heritage is all of this, respect and with identity, a continuum… matter for creation, a matter for humanity.

So the design was made.

This single family housing was developed within the limits outlined by the existing building, making use of the roof span, achieved by slight reducing the height of the ground floor and by changing the roof, thus creating sufficient height for this floor to be used for housing also.

The builidng is developed on two floors, with the following distribution:

The ground floor comprises the entrance hall of the dwelling, kitchen and pantry, living room, a bathroom, two bedrooms and an access to the upper floor. On this floor there is also a small garden that will be maintained and expanded through the demolition of the existing laundry which has now been transferred to the garage. On the upper floor, there is a small room, a bedroom and a bathroom.

This single family housing was developed within the limits outlined in the initial sketch. The daring volumetric composition is formed by an apparently closed volume that rests on a base and a plan that intercepts it. This volumetric arrangement is emphasized by the use of different materials: stone and wood, which respectively compose the upper volume/wall and the recessed lower floor.

This closure from the street is contradicted by the opening to the inner side of the lot. In terms of programmatic distribution, the space is divided between ancillary areas (basement), social areas (ground floor) and private areas (1st floor). The upper volume, with a single slopped roof, rises above the street emphasizing its dimension and creating a dynamic volumetric composition, with tension and, simultaneously, stability in the composition of its forms.

The project was the answer to a competition for the construction of 164 apartments destined to rehouse the people from an area of slum housing.

The problems involved with designing a collective housing for this social group raised a series of question that, once recognised, needed to be studied and answered. Factors such as the different ways of inhabiting, the different family core, the several ethnic groups and their respective ingrained patterns of life, all called for a diversified use of space and demanded alternative spaces that should be integrated into the scheme, whilst arriving at a common denominative.

The construction of a collective group of housing in a deprived urban area is capable of raising the environmental standard of the whole locality. The site in question is excellently located near the National Highway 109, surrounded by green areas and with views to the sea. The design demanded care and attention in order to develop a language and a relationship between volumes, worried about not creating “social ghettos” that disadvantage the whole development and through association negate the remaining favourable spaces of the habitation, a threat urban social housing projects have fallen victim to in the past. There was an identified need to build the social housing and accompanying urban spaces with a strong regard of durability, in recognition of the fact that a non-descript act of degradation soon generates more significant decay.

The site under study is part of the Serrinha Urbanization Plan, Rebordosa, where the City Council plans to build a multi-purpose exhibition park to publicize the city’s business activities in order to make business dynamics more competitive and that the City Hall intends to provide support and continuity in a strategic vision, with a broad influence beyond the territorial limits of the municipality of Paredes.

The Project defines an architectural solution with a vision of a building that, in addition to the strictly functional sense of a multipurpose business exhibition park, enables symbolic communication capable of being an important reference in communication and in adhering to environmental quality concerns, landscape and urban integration of the municipality of Paredes, in a contemporary perspective.

With the conception of this Project, it is intended to obtain a functional space that structures and values ​​an entire business area that the plan envisages and that is intended to be in fact the driving force of the high potential that this Municipality has been showing posible.

The bioclimatic component has proved to be the basis of the work, the building being designed in a healthy balance and with a construction that fits in a climatic context promoting comfort conditions and minimizing energy consumption. 

The great innovation in this context results, in our opinion, in a single factor, the absence of materials and cladding on the façades, having been replaced by a single element – glass. Double glazing ensures noise reduction, protects heat input or output, reduces condensation and regulates the passage of light – composed of thermal glass, and obtains important energy savings, produced inside.

A bioclimatic building doesn’t have to involve any extra costs as it doesn’t need complicated technological devices and with this façade option we obtain a considerable reduction in CO2 emissions when obtaining raw materials, manufacturing, transport and maintenance. Nevertheless, the fact that all the material to be replaced can be recycled or recyclable – in short the energy consumption in the construction process and the building during its lifetime is minimised.

It’s important to understand that planet Earth subsists thanks to a “healthy” balance between all its components in a mechanism that has been called the life cycle and that is at the origin of all ecosystems. It is urgent to ensure that the natural cycle at the origin of life is preserved.

The bioclimatic component has proved to be the basis of this work, with the building being designed in a healthy balance and with a construction that fits into a climate context promoting comfort conditions and minimising energy consumption. 

A bioclimatic building doesn’t have to involve extra expenses as it doesn’t need complicated technological devices and with these construction options we obtain a considerable reduction of CO2 emission, in the obtaining of raw material, its manufacture, transport and maintenance. Nevertheless, the fact that all the material to be replaced can be recycled or recyclable – in short the energy consumption in the construction process and the building during its lifetime is minimised.