School of Arts | HighPlan Portugal \ Architects

The intervention site, Jordão Theatre and Auto Garagem Avenida, is not only made of architectural components linked to the historical memory of the city. It is an element which develops itself in an urban context with two very different and characteristic entities as well. The first intention is to preserve those entities in a way to contribute to the reinforcement of that unique and affective identity of the inhabitants with their city.

It is necessary to preserve the facades of Jordão Theatre and Auto Garagem Avenida in Dom Afonso Henriques Avenue, such as the stone wall and the tile roof in Vila Flor Street, which connects us to a very characteristic fragment of city that settles in the collective imaginary, where the little scale, the volumetric fragmentation and its materiality finds its reason of being. The windows and the original materials are recovered and it is used granite stone and glass to build the new.

Inside, the Jordão Theatre recovers spatially all the hallways and foyers, with new uses. At Auto garage Avenida its configuration of big “industrial” spaces is spatially valued, reusing them without subdivisions and obtaining light and ventilation through the original facades and spans.

The solution presented, the need to enlarge the Theatre starts from three fundamental premises: Programmatic efficiency = Spaces economy / Multipurpose; Functional efficiency = Itinerary economy / comfort; Formal and constructive austerity = Construction economy / budget.