Trofa Town Hall building design, northern Portugal development, Portuguese architecture photos
Trofa Town Hall in Portugal
15 November 2024
Architecture: NOARQ
Location: Trofa, Portugal
Photos by Duccio Malagamba
Trofa Town Hall, Portugal
Until November of 2022, Trofa held the unique distinction of being the only municipality in Portugal without a town hall. Despite its historical roots tracing back to the Roman Empire, this small industrial city only achieved administrative autonomy in 1998. Since then, civic operations were dispersed across various locations, with some housed in a renovated residential building. “It was a joke,” says architect José Carlos Nunes de Oliveira of NOARQ, the firm selected in a 2016 competition to design Trofa’s Câmara Municipal.
The new building, partially funded by the European Union, consolidates Trofa’s public offices and administrative functions into a single, centralized location for the first time. Situated near a major avenue and adjacent to a historic chapel and park, the project reimagines a rectangular site once home to a derelict grain-processing facility. NOARQ preserved a central warehouse from the original site, extending its roof southward and embedding it within five striking new volumes clad in slender black bricks. This material choice nods to Trofa’s industrial heritage, when coal smoke darkened the facades of its buildings, a legacy of the rail lines that fueled its development.
Trofa’s relatively recent growth dates back to the inauguration of its railway station in 1875, which spurred the establishment of industries such as food processing, metalworking, milling, and textiles. These industries leveraged the town’s strategic location, facilitating distribution to Porto, Braga, and Guimarães. Today, Trofa is home to approximately 40,000 residents and continues to thrive as a manufacturing hub, producing tires, automotive parts, hydraulic equipment, Styrofoam, and plastic products.
NOARQ’s design for the town hall is bold and monumental, contrasting its provincial surroundings. The 67,000-square-foot building significantly exceeds the original program brief, which architect José Carlos Nunes de Oliveira noted failed to provide adequate public space. The elongated structure, evocative of a train car, features a solemn black-brick facade with minimal exterior glazing, diverging from contemporary civic architecture trends that emphasize transparency. Instead, the design champions the dignity of civic service, likened by de Oliveira to “a worker in a black suit.” The handmade black brick, integral to the structure, embodies solidity and timelessness.
Upon closer inspection, the building reveals unexpected details: subtle curves soften the blocky forms, and the uninterrupted brick exterior opens midway to expose the light gray facade of the restored factory, which serves as the public entrance. This interplay of old and new underscores the building’s role as a bridge between Trofa’s industrial past and its civic future.
Trofa Town Hall, Portugal – Property Information
Architect: NOARQ – https://www.noarq.com/
Area: 6232 sq. m.
Project Manager: André Oliveira
Collaborators: Gaia Ferraris, Hugo Araújo, João Quintas, Sara Bitossi, Giulia Furlotti, Juliana Sampaio, Bruna Cerutti Franciscatto, Daniel Veludo
Photography: Duccio Malagamba
Trofa Town Hall, northern Portugal images / information received 151124 from NOARQ
Location: Trofa, Portugal, southwestern Europe
New Portuguese Architecture
Contemporary Portuguese Architecture
Portuguese Architecture Designs – chronological list
Lisbon Architecture Tours by e-architect
Farfetch HQ, by Leça River, Porto, northern Portugal
Architects: BIG
visualization : Lucian R
Farfetch HQ in Porto
Alto Tâmega Tourism Info Point, Chaves, north of Portugal
Design: AND-RÉ Arquitectura
photograph : Ivo Tavares Studio
Alto Tâmega Tourism Info Point
Olive Oil Factory Marmelo Mill, southern Portugal
Design: Ricardo Bak Gordon
Olive Oil Factory Marmelo Mill
Comments / photos for the Trofa Town Hall, northern Portugal design by NOARQ page welcome.