Emre Arolat Architecture has created a design for Alcantara Gardens in Lisbon, Portugal. The project is situated near Lisbon’s historic commercial center, surrounded by industrial environment, fronting waterfront developments. Alcantara is home to a port with vibrant rows of warehouses and industrial buildings mostly converted into restaurants and nightclubs, and a residential neighborhood where historic building stock is preserved. Alcantara Gardens comprises of residential, apartments, office spaces, and public amenities behind facades inspired by vernacular design.
The residential part contains 93 residential units, ranging from small units for short term stays to apartments for families. Those on the podium level open into a private garden with a rooftop terrace which includes a private pool and spa. At the street level, there is a public courtyard with restaurants and shops.
The dialogue between this contrasting urban scheme created a duality which became the contextual foundation for the Alcantara Gardens Project. The massing of the complex is a reaction to this contrast, as in the parts that are facing the existing residential blocks which are remnants of Lisbon’s Pombaline period, an architectural style which emerged in the 18th century. They are articulated in a way that reflects the fragmentation in size and gives an interpretation of the local facade style with a predominantly opaque facade and shuttered openings.
The elements closer to the waterfront settlement, become bigger in size with a more contemporary facade language in sync with the emerging contemporary typologies along the shoreline.
As a result, the facade alteration and materials are varied from stucco walls with small openings and interior balconies to floor-to-ceiling glazed facades with generous terraces encouraging exterior use.
Emre Arolat says, “Regardless of the city or place, the process of urban renewal as it becomes a way of transformation and gentrification is highly critical where one of the common tendencies of the modern world is to alienate or even underestimate the existing environment while introducing a new structure.”
The construction is set to begin in 2020 and will be completed in 2022.
https://www.archdaily.com/921474/emre-arolat-bridges-old-and-new-with-lisbon-apartments