2022 - quartel gnr, portalegre

GNR Headquarters, Portalegre

It is, fundamentally, the plain that we speak of when we speak of Alentejo and it is from this mass that the ground is made where the future military center of Portalegre is to be built. We can still see its lazy oscillation and it still preserves the heath tone only punctuated by scattered groups of cork and holm oaks.

The program of a the headquarters is, as a rule, well understood as a machine that must articulate a myriad of users and functions, disparate in nature, accommodating them in a complete whole, which seeks self-sufficiency within a specific curve of action. The building models of self-sufficient structures typically originate the building of a perimeter and the creation of a world within it – in what can be understood as the search for a paradise, be it oneiric or functional. Added strength to the claim, the strategy is appropriately adjusted to the case at hand, since the buildable areas are concentrated in the remaining perimeter. This constraint is revealed here as the trigger factor and frames the creation of a boundary building, a built-up perimeter and, consequently, an interior enclosure.

The building, in its path, adapts the number of floors to the smooth topographical variation, keeping the roof level constant, seeking a formal clarity that greatly contributes to the determination of the limit and to the identity of the set – which is, fundamentally, structured to from the separation between the Training Center and the Territorial Command, as well as being strongly conditioned by the predetermined entry point. In the overall organization of the complex, the positioning of the Parade and the relationship it establishes with the whole acquire accentuated significance. The existence of the gallery on both floors provides direct access from the outside to any space in the programme. The modularity that serves as the basis for the composition of the building originates from the principles defined for its organization, based on a module that, repeated, duplicated or divided, accommodates the different functional demands of the extensive list of planned spaces.

The proposal for the green structure assumes the enhancement of the existing tree cover and the strategic planting of trees and shrubs on the hill and on the perimeter edges and street trees along the extensive parking lanes, consolidating the intended landscape framework.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION - 4th PRIZE

architecture

Pedro Matos Gameiro

design team

Raquel Batista Pereira, Pedro Youssef, Mariana Bacelar, Joana França, Niccolò Ansuinelli

landscape architecture

Filipa Menezes (F|C Arquitectura Paisagista)

structural engineer

Miguel Villar (Betar)

HVAC air treatment and thermal conditioning

electrical engineering and fireproof concept

acoustics