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Architects: Nuno Valentim
- Area: 1465 m²
- Year: 2017
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Photographs:João Ferrand
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Manufacturers: DDL, MARGON, Mosaic Del Sur, Nuprotec, RESSETENDE
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Lead Architects: Nuno Valentim, Margarida Carvalho
Text description provided by the architects. The renovation of the Palacete da Quinta do Bom Pastor consisted of an adaptation to house the Portuguese Episcopal Conference headquarters – an extensive, diverse and complex brief. Though the first historical reference to the Quinta da Buraca dates back to 1712, it was only in the second half of the eighteenth century that it came to its current set, made up of a mansion, secondary structures, an ornamental garden and a gazebo.
The main building concentrates most services, which are distributed through the three floors and make avail of the existent compartments and decorative elements – ceilings and wooden floors. The reception halls and waiting rooms link it to the other spaces – the library, café, restrooms and meeting rooms, as well as the elevator, a special addition connecting the once separate buildings. The design aimed to preserve the original characteristics when it comes to materials and style, appealing to reinterpretations in the areas of deeper interventions.
The new brief and use demanded a great structural load, which had to be accounted for without compromising the original building. At the same time, it was important to guarantee comfort and insulation, correcting anomalies. All solutions were made case by case, room by room, taking into consideration the function, users, solar orientation, window dispositions, thermal inertia, thermal load…
The project also had to identify, diagnose and right the decorative elements that were done through successive interventions, consequence of the several owners that wished to leave their marks – for example, the original stone work and balustrades, iron railings, decorative tile panels (inside and outside), the tile façade looking toward the garden, the encrusted decorative panels and the painted ceiling in the gazebo.
The renovation of the exterior was also very important, considering the fact that the site is listed as a green space of municipal interest. The design bettered walls and paths, maintaining the signs of its rural heritage, brought life to the ornamental garden and reinstated its relation to the building.
