torrinhas building

Horta, Faial, 2019

As found

The Torrinhas Building, whose name refers to the dormer windows that strongly characterize its profile, is a 1920’s testimony of the late arrival of art-deco aesthetics to the island. It stands in Horta’s civic hub, facing the seafront promenade on one hand and the Municipality plaza on the other, visible from all angles, and a fully present in the city dwellers collective imagination

ground floor plan - entry and restaurant

1st floor plan - guest rooms and lounge

2nd floor plan - guest rooms

attic plan - guest rooms and suite

attic plan - guest rooms and suite

conceptual sketches

lounge

distribution hall

We hope to deliver to this place a new and seamless architectonic unity and a new life so that the Torrinhas will carry on helping shape the collective imagination of Horta’s urban landscape

The Azores Archipelago.

Horta, Faial Island’s lone city, has long been a safe haven in the midst of the Atlantic. Its marina provides respite for those crossing the rough seas, and boasts an unparalleled scenery, with the cascading city, the generous waterfront promenade, and the lone sentinel of Pico standing across the narrow channel between the islands.

This condition of a convenient stepping stone between continents, has given Horta a veneer of cosmopolitanism that naturally stretches to its architecture.

The Torrinhas Building, whose name refers to the dormer windows that strongly characterize its profile, is a 1920’s testimony of the late arrival of art-deco aesthetics to the island. It stands in Horta’s civic hub, facing the seafront promenade on one hand and the Municipality plaza on the other, visible from all angles, and a fully present in the city dwellers collective imagination.

It’s a privileged location in a special place, but the building has fallen into decay following a long period of neglect and abandonment. Protected by the strict local heritage plan, this building will be subjected to a profound renovation. Our strategy looks to balance the need to respect and recognize the role of this building’s image within the city’s context, and the necessity of adapting it to a contemporary use in a coherent and culturally meaningful way.

Too damaged to be reused, most of the interior will be torn down. The stone masonry façade will be reinforced and lovingly repaired and a new timber structure within will solve the static and seismic requirements for the new purpose - a small hospitality unit with 10 rooms and a Restaurant.

Our aim is that of making sure that the new spatial organization and building technology won’t be indifferent to the pre-existing qualities of the “shell”, which the public wishes to see maintained.

Inside, the spaces will look for an atmosphere and materiality interested in synthesizing the echoes of the art-deco period and a contemporary hedonistic sense of island life.

Tip-toeing around the usual pitfalls of profound intervention in heritage buildings, we hope that our methodology will allow us to deliver to this place a new and seamless architectonic unity and a new life so that the Torrinhas will carry on helping shape the collective imagination of Horta’s urban landscape.