Open Competition, 1st prize, Ongoing
Lisbon, Portugal, 2023 -
plot area: 2 185 sqm
gross built area: 2 763 sqm
Restraint, in addition to being an economic investment issue, also translates into an attitude of subordination to the two existing volumes - "twin buildings" - which, due to their striking expression and clear identity, unequivocally assert themselves as protagonists in the organization of the school, in the internal functioning of the programme, and in the image to be preserved in the built profile in relation to the Tejo River.
The project accepts and embraces the need for a significant transformation of the school, adapting it to current educational and regulatory requirements, while ensuring the preservation of the school's image from the 1950s: it changes everything, to, seemingly, change nothing.
A new modular structure with a flexible layout is added, in each of the two preexisting identical buildings, accommodating the new programme
The proposal includes two other important intervention moments: the underground gym under the Kindergarten playground, and the covered outdoor playground, where an accessible and protected connection between buildings was achieved, and its visitable roof establishes another level of connection.
The project accepts and embraces the need for a significant transformation of the school, adapting it to current educational and regulatory requirements, while ensuring the preservation of the school's image from the 1950s: it changes everything, to, seemingly, change nothing.
In the current context, deeply marked by the need for containment at all levels, innovation is the ability to make the most of what exists, reducing the burden of new construction to the strictly necessary. Faced with a complex like the Prof. Oliveira Marques School, restraint, in addition to being an economic investment issue, also translates into an attitude of subordination to the two existing volumes - "twin buildings" - which, due to their striking expression and clear identity, unequivocally assert themselves as protagonists in the organization of the school, in the internal functioning of the programme, and in the image to be preserved in the built profile in relation to the Tejo River.
However, the programme of a school facility of this type has undergone profound transformations in recent decades. From a somewhat elementary organism - entrance, staircase, corridor, classrooms, and small service spaces, the school now requires a set of complementary spaces for teaching and support - which function in synergy and direct contact with the base programme, organized in this case on various floors. Therefore, the proposal consists precisely of the morphological, functional, and expressive completion of the two existing volumes: the missing complementary and support programme will be organized in two-story rectangular volumes that complete the 'J' shape of the two existing buildings, continuing their logic and rules, adding the missing spaces to the west side of the corridor.
In each of the two existing buildings, identical in shape, number of floors, typology, and appearance, a new modular structure with a flexible layout is added, capable of accommodating the new required spaces.
In addition to these two new completion volumes for the main buildings, the proposal includes two other important intervention moments: the underground gym under the Kindergarten playground and the covered outdoor playground, where an accessible and protected connection between buildings was achieved, and its visitable roof establishes another level of connection, this time joining the upper floor of the Basic School to the entrance level of the Kindergarten.
Innovation in this project mainly involves ensuring the prominence that the two "twin buildings" claim in the ensemble, developing delicate strategies to complete the building complex. This is also a unique opportunity to gain new spatial situations, especially at the intermediate level where the removal of the old cafeteria allows for surprising generosity and versatility between the buildings, consistent with the spirit of active learning desired in an open-air school.