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Architects: Pedro Campos Costa
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Photographs:José Campos
Text description provided by the architects. Rehabilitation is a medical term that refers to the dynamic global process oriented to physical and psychological regeneration of the human being. In architecture is associated with the critical process to find the essential elements which are to remain, those that must be removed and new ones, prostheses, which may be added. This intervention follows two options: the archaeological recovery by mimesis with the past and the contemporary statement by comparison with present realities. The goal was to search for a balance between existing and contemporary. The building was designed in the 70s and has features that I was interested in keeping and which influenced the design of the new elements. I perceive the buildings not as static elements but as living structures that interact over us and that are part of the experience both at the program level or its aesthetic expression.
Here there isn’t a dreamlike inspiration. The process is little linear and the final design is the result of several moments of the project with several intersections with the client.
The fundamental aspect of the new structure is the concern for comfort, both on the terrace and lounge space. The wood was a material that emerged from the very first moment, very attached to a search for a relationship with the nearby surroundings, even with the tree that is located on your side. The building seeks to find the land and the surrounding in a balanced and harmonious way while asserting his personality and his character, creating an innovative space proposal. That was the key challenge to affirm the architectural effectiveness in finding a new value for the tourism product.
In the 20s and 30s, the industry was thrilled with the architect and with the possibilities that could build together. Today the industry is back to back, uninterested in innovative solutions and more interested in the repetition of standard ones. This situation forces the architects to be constantly faced with catalogs, standard choices and unable to draw solutions. Whenever we can, we try to build bridges with industry, with contractors, with the carpenters, locksmiths or masons, to create solutions together. In this case the roof is a hyperboloid made in wood, a geometry that allows great spans with less material, and where the joints are all at different distances. The shading grids were designed specifically for this building. Concrete allows the console 6 meters towards the pool.
We always tried to be very, very careful with the choice of materials. The spatial distribution and comfort of the environment is designed in such a way that the light has great importance, and the materials are essential to this idea of space. Another example of this approach is the Extension of the Lisbon Oceanarium, where the ceramic tile of the facade, which was designed and developed specially for this building, has a fundamental role in the light design and ambiance both in the interior and exterior.
