Marquesa de Alorna School, Lisbon Education Building Images, José Sobral Blanco Design

Marquesa de Alorna School, Lisbon : Building for Parque Escolar

Portuguese Architecture design by José Neves architect

19 Mar 2012

Location: central Lisbon, Portugal

Design: José Neves

Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon education building
photograph : Laura Castro Caldas & Paulo Cintra; João Dias

Marquesa de Alorna School Lisboa

Marquesa de Alorna School

The existing Marquesa de Alorna School, designed by architect José Sobral Blanco in 1956, was one of the 50 schools built in Portugal according to the type promoted by the Construction Board for Secondary and Technical Education in the 1950’s.

Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon education building stairs
photo : Laura Castro Caldas & Paulo Cintra; João Dias

Like many of these schools, it had two main bodies, one containing the academic and administrative areas, the other containing the gym and cafeteria. The two bodies were linked by the main atrium of the school and the covered playground.

Marquesa de Alorna School Lisboa Marquesa de Alorna Lisboa
photos : Laura Castro Caldas & Paulo Cintra; João Dias

In this instance, the set defined a patio surrounded by an amphitheatre-shaped slope with woods, the result from an excavation on the hillside to build the original school. The beauty of the patio has since been disfigured, as the covered playground was closed, cutting the visual relationship between the patio and the city, and as the slope was largely destroyed in order to allow the construction of a parking building owned by a bank.

Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon
photos : Laura Castro Caldas & Paulo Cintra; João Dias

As part of the “School Modernization Program” of the Parque Escolar, our project provides for two types of intervention, namely:

a) in the existing building, the atrium, corridors and stairs, generously proportioned with its floor and wainscots in hydraulic mosaic; the exterior walls in painted plaster; the window frames in painted wood and the roof in flat tiles are restored. The existing classrooms receive new elements to bring more comfort – a suspended ceiling, a window blind, a wall;

b) on the other hand, three new bodies are added to the set:
1) a tower with the new laboratories and drawing rooms, west of the existing wing containing the classrooms;
2) a body, designed as a bridge, with the library, links the existing body that contains the gym and the cafeteria to the classrooms. Under this bridge, a covered playground, designed as an outdoor hypostyle room and relating directly to the students room, restore the original visual continuity between the main atrium and the patio of the school;
3) a semi-buried body of spas under the sports field which is protected by a plant structure that partly recovers the green screen earlier realized by the woods.

View of the library room:
Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon
photograph : João Dias (video still)

Given a school in which the diversity of spaces and situations was increasingly reduced throughout its history, a sentence of João dos Santos served as a greater stimulus for the project: “If you do not have a village, my son, you have to go in search of it! A boy can not live without his village.”

Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon
photos : Laura Castro Caldas & Paulo Cintra; João Dias

Marquesa de Alorna School – Building Information

Title: MARQUESA DE ALORNA SCHOOL Location: Lisbon
Project year: 2007-08
Construction year: 2008-10

Architect: José Neves
Collaborators: Rui Sousa Pinto, André Matos, Bernardo Enes Dias, Filipe Cameira, Hugo Ferreira, Nuno Florêncio, Vitor Quaresma; João Pernão, Maria Capelo (colour consultants)
Landscape Architecture: Proap
Engineering: Betar, Joule, Natural Works
Client: Parque Escolar

GoogleMaps coordinates: 38.734904,-9.158971
GPS coordinates: 38º 44.082’ N; 9º 9.550’ O

Photographs: Laura Castro Caldas & Paulo Cintra; João Dias

Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon
photo : Laura Castro Caldas & Paulo Cintra; João Dias

Marquesa de Alorna School Lisbon images / information from José Neves

José Neves, born in Lisbon in 1963, graduated in Architecture from Lisbon’s Technical University School of Architecture in 1986, the same year he represented Portugal in the 2nd Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, in Thessaloniki, selected by the Secretariat of State for Culture.

From 1986 until 1990 worked with Duarte Cabral de Mello and since 1991 participated in several projects with Vítor Figueiredo. That same year opened his own office.

The Rui Jordão House (nominated for the SECIL Architecture Award 1998 and 1st Prize in the Torres Vedras Municipality Awards for Architecture 1996-2001), the Lisbon University’s Faculty of Sciences – C6 Building and Boulevard (1st Prize in the Public Competition and nominated for the SECIL Architecture Award 2004), the regeneration and expansion of Marquesa de Alorna School and Francisco de Arruda School, in Lisbon, and the Maritime Station of Madalena do Pico, in Azores, are some of his works.

Obtained several prizes in Public Competitions such as for the Carnival Arts Centre in Torres Vedras, the Rectorate of Lisbon Technical University, the Minho’s University School of Architecture, or the Street Market in Almada.

Teacher at F.A./U.T.L. since 1989, where he is currently working on his PHD thesis.

Note – Lisboa is often translated as Lisbon in English

Location: Rua Marquesa de Alorna, Lisboa, Portugal

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