monte Pedral barracks (Oitoo)

Open competition: second prize
There’s almost everything here: a wealth of typologically flexible buildings in surprisingly good condition, magnificent trees, alleys, courtyards… Now that the Army has left, these venerable barracks only need a new community to inhabit them, activate the spaces, and rediscover their potential.
How?

First, by embracing the qualities of what already exists, rather than defaulting to the usual approach of clearing the site to build anew.

A careful analysis of the existing structures shows that many are worth preserving, and that the 14,000 sqm already built form a substantial part of the required 50,000 sqm. Tearing down buildings only to rebuild them seems intrinsically unsustainable—environmentally, economically, and socially.

Reusing most of the existing structures, expanding them according to their typological rules, and enhancing their structural potential offers a compelling alternative. It allows the project to meet the competition’s requirements for affordable housing and student residences, while creating and densifying a new piece of urban fabric in a genuinely sustainable way.

The proposal demonstrates a different approach to post-industrial or military sites: one that does not assume a tabula rasa. It recognises the physical, dimensional, expressive, and structural qualities of what is already there, exploring how their life cycle can be extended.
Monte Pedral’s revitalisation can begin immediately. About half of the existing built area could be repurposed for temporary uses—co-working spaces, workshops, cultural and artistic venues, markets, sporting events—activating the site, fostering community, halting decay, and generating revenue.

The second phase, to follow once investors engage and permits are secured, would refurbish and expand the site to 50,000 sqm of residential, commercial, and workspaces, consolidating a new urban hub in the city.