fundação Santander (Oitoo)

Invited Competition: 1st prize
*with Nuno Valentim Arquitectura

A Strongbox within the Pombaline Urban Fabric
Can architecture reflect a new relationship? A “new” institution, truly capable of transforming realities? A programme, a history, material values and human values?

The project seeks to represent the Santander Foundation in its ambition to establish a reference hub at the intersection of education, social impact and culture, fostering innovation, diversity and sustainability.
The point of departure is extraordinary: the architectural value of the Leões Building — former headquarters of Banco Lisboa e Açores, now Banco Santander — located on the main axis of Lisbon’s Pombaline downtown, Rua Áurea.

The building has a long and distinguished history. Designed by Ventura Terra, it was inaugurated in 1906, based on a neoclassical project with Art Nouveau influences. It appears as an interruption and an exception within the Pombaline ensemble; nevertheless, it represents a sensitive rupture: the façade plane is maintained and, from a morphological point of view, the building is inserted in a manner compatible with its urban context.

In 1950, an extension was carried out, featuring an extraordinary interior intervention by João Simões. This intervention sought to prolong and reinforce the building’s exceptional presence within the Baixa, introducing a conservative modernism capable of dialoguing with the pre-existing structure. The concept of the triple-height atrium was retained, requiring the demolition of a large part of the building and its “analogous” reconstruction, now in reinforced concrete. This approach enabled a vertical extension, with the creation of three new floors, independently served by a new entrance from Rua dos Sapateiros. The basement was also enlarged, coming to occupy the full footprint of the building. All of this was carried out beneath a roof of Pombaline character, fully integrated into the Baixa ensemble.

The architectural proposal now assumes the responsibility of responding to the values at stake and of enhancing the programme’s ambition, fully integrating all dimensions of this material and immaterial reality.
We propose to recover the essence of the building — its openness and transparency — reinforcing its pre-existing values and subsequently lending them coherence through a set of strategic interventions:

making the building more open and accessible to all;
reconstructing a “ground-floor scenography” through the integration of public programmes;
adopting criteria of surgical and adaptive intervention, capable of reconciling the preservation of the existing fabric with the need for a profound transformation of the spaces.
The interior spatiality brings together two distinct natures: on the one hand, well-defined spaces arranged in sequence, inherited from Ventura Terra; on the other, the modernist open-plan space introduced by João Simões. Neither approach should be eliminated or prevail over the other. Their coexistence offers a wide range of spatial conditions, capable of responding to the heterogeneity of needs and to the programme proposed by the Santander Foundation.