Habitar Portugal 12-14HP 12-14

The intervention area for this remodelling project consisted of spacious but arid school grounds interrupted by three large pine trees between the already existing the existing buildings. The school’s central block served social and management purposes and also housed two classrooms and laboratories and workshops. There was also a sports pavilion. Functionally outdated, formally unattractive and structurally fragile, the school facilities had aged rather too quickly and showed no real potential for ever becoming an inviting and learning-conducive environment.
There was also a patently urgent need to find a solution to the school’s thermal, acoustic and hcav issues and for removing architectural barriers and remodelling the school’s grounds. This reality became the starting point for a new school concept. First of all, the buildings that were to be conserved were identified and the design process gradually advanced towards a single  final object. The ideal solution was to retain two buildings containing classrooms and the sports pavilion, whilst inserting new volumes to create one continuous element.
The starting point for the ‘new’ school building’s structure was the defining of the entrance with a lobby worthy of that name. The lobby space was extended into the exterior space by a generous forecourt. For the interior, the design objective was to create a clear, simple and bright ambience with clearly identifiable circulation routes facilitating the links between the various operational sections. On the façade, the cladding in solid brick protects the building, reducing upkeep costs and adding cohesion to the whole complex.