The construction of the Joint Building-Pousos in Leiria, Portugal, will be made for Utilities, Shops, and Housings with related functional areas. The project will allow the area to become rehabilitated as well as a recovery of the natural heritage.

Client: SIMALA - GRUPO MENESES
Project year: 2006-2009
Architecture: José Marini Bragança
Collaboration: Pedro Antunes
Landscape Architecture: SITIO E LUGAR – Paula Simões e Catarina Patrão
Foundations and Structures: CSA – Carlos Serrano
Project year: 2006-2009
3D Drawings: Joao Bettencourt

The assembly is characterized by different volumes along with different types of executions. There are 3 autonomous functionality buildings, one for each typology:

• the office typology
• the utilities typology
• the housing typology

The three volumes are units. They sort out the implementations and they depend on both the spot morphologic and topographic features. Their orientation fosters the exploitation of energy and also shelters the housing units’ leisure activities from the noise. Therefore, the two shopping floors adapt themselves to the actual land topographic elevation by creating a base on which both the office building and the housing building will develop and articulate. Under them, the expected uses of the technical units and parking floor interconnect with each other.

External Finishings

By displaying a different formalisation, the buildings also display a uniformity of materials which will give them a formal coherence. Both the reinforced concrete finishing and the heavy pre-manufacturing finishing define the material that homogenises them.