Manchester Building
MANCHESTER BUILDING
rar.studio
LEAD ARCHITECTS
Rita Aguiar Rodrigues
PHOTOGRAPHS
Francisco Nogueira
LOCATION
Lisbon, Portugal
CATEGORY
Apartments, Renovation, Apartment Interiors
CONTRACTOR
RVI – Recuperação e Valorização de Imóveis, Lda.
PROJECT LEADER
Inês Chambel Borges, Mariana Simões
YEAR
2020
COLLABORATORS
Francisco Costa, Marta Morais Miranda, Samuele D’Eramo, Tali Liberman
Text description provided by architect.
This 20th-century building is located in the Lisbon neighbourhood of Anjos. It had been in a state of imminent ruin, although 3 of its 10 apartments were inhabited.
The rehabilitation operation was structural and transversal – with the necessary reinforcements from a structural point of view, all kinds of new infrastructures, and systems to improve the energy performance and comfort of the apartments.
The main façade and the stairwell were restored, with a redesign of the entrance hall, the circulation areas in the basement floor and the patio, and the roof was reconstructed.
An elevator was installed towards the rear of the building, the metallic structure of the balconies was extended leading to an increase of the private outdoor area, a new entrance to the apartments, and access to the patio.
All the apartments underwent the same spatial alterations, despite having been personalised according to the wishes of each of their new owners.
Although this is clearly and unmistakably a rehabilitation, the dimensions of the restoration, but also the idea of reconstitution – of certain constructive and decorative elements, and of a particular type of architecture – are recognisable, in an intermingling of the new and old that is not always distinguishable.
