Liberdade 195

Description

The building that constitutes the object of this project is located at the confluence of one of the main structuring axes of the fabric of the city, Avenida da Liberdade, with Rua Barata Salgueiro, in a central position in the macro-urban context of the city of Lisbon.

In this lot was originally erected the former palace of the lawyer Barata Salgueiro. Inaugurated in 1902 and later demolished in 1970 to make way for the current building. This palace was marked by a stone base with elaborate stereotomies and reliefs, an organized fenestration with detailed stonework and a crowning made by a corner turret with generous balconies overlooking the surrounding views.

With the entry into the 20th century and especially in its second half, the Avenida saw its architectural and urban consistency profoundly altered. The progressive construction of office buildings with significantly larger volumes, many of them enlarged by the aggregation of several plots, as was the case with this building. It is in this context that the current building was built in 1980, designed for the use of Banco Espírito Santo’s offices and headquarters, a function it has performed over the last 40 years with a relatively stabilized architecture and in some way paradigmatic of the bank’s image.

In urban terms, the current building strongly asserts its monolithic presence on the avenue, despite our habit of seeing it in that location. This perception stands out not only because it is located on an important corner lot, which gives it a unique and reference volumetric status, but also in terms of its formal and rhythmic language, marked by an obsessive aluminum grille with a peculiar and repetitive design, which became the corporate image of Banco Espírito Santo, now known as Novo Banco.

It is this important property that is now intended to be reconverted to a luxury residential use, a function it once had, which forces us to rethink the role of architecture in the guiding thread of history.

“history as a place of opportunity for innovation” (Álvaro Siza Vieira)

The strategy of this project is based on the premise triggered by the programmatic change of the building, from its current use of services to a residential use of high standards, resuming the program that founded the Avenue, specifically the then Bairro Barata Salgueiro, characterized by its aristocratic residential palaces of influence foreign, now translated into a new contemporary reality.

In order to mitigate the compact and dense perception of the original volume, it is proposed to introduce a tripartite compositional typology present in the aristocratic mansions on Avenida da Liberdade: stone base at ground level, body of the building with rhythmic and noble fenestration, and crowning with exceptional floors.

This proposal aims to offer, not only to the city, but also to the user of these spaces, a more sophisticated spectrum of sensory stimuli, within a logic of continuity, coexistence, construction and experience of the noble character of this area of the city, providing a more human-scale experience.

The large, fresh and tree-lined patio aims to provide the intervention with a comfortable atmosphere, rich in contact with nature, with the diversity of seasons and aromas, seeking to continue the strong presence of arboreal and vegetative elements on Avenida da Liberdade and Parque Eduardo VII.