Matosinhos Retail Park | PROMONTORIO

Location  Matosinhos (Greater Oporto), Portugal

Developer  Santander Bank

Programme  Retail park

Gross Leasing Area  20,000 sq.m

Parking 2,400 cars

Construction Cost  N/A

Project Status 2010 (competition, 1st-prize) – 2017 (public opening)

Matosinhos, a township adjacent to Oporto, is intimately associated with the Port of Leixoes, its activities and logistics, of which the berths, the stowage areas and the container parks are an integral part.  In recent decades, taking advantage of the accessibility and road infrastructure, some of these industrial activities have been replaced by large-scale retail projects including a plethora of big-box retailers.

This said, container shipping, is ironically a business activity with a trading typology which underpins the same rationale behind the retail park value-chain; that is, large formats, low operating costs and hard discount.  In this disruptive context, the relentless authenticity of the containers, the erratic and colourful juxtaposition of those pilled-up boxes with bright freight logos, was the starting premise for the design of this retail park.  The latter, in terms of programme is basically a large and cost effective warehouse with an appealing frontage and abundance of parking.  From this vantage point, the recycling of used containers to create the facade walls, brought from the nearby container parks, proved effective both in terms of availability, transportation and fast-track assemblage, with the cubic capacity of the façade space being used for storage and technical areas.

The ensemble forms a U-shaped plaza with outdoor parking at the centre connecting the various retailers by a steel arcade with the loading docks and employee facilities located on the back.