one arrives at the new atrium of the school after a brief walk through the garden. photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

it is a project within the “school modernization program” sponsored by the parque escolar, for a school originally designed by architect josé antónio pedroso in 1956. the three bodies that constitute the school are situated on the hillside in the continuity of the faculty of agronomy fields, overlooking the district of alcântara.

the original building, spread across three platforms pragmatically modelled on the hill, is organized around a central patio and has three bodies each with its own functions – teaching, administration, and covered playground; gym and cafeteria; workshops – linked through covered outdoor galleries. these bodies, with very different shapes, were taken by us as if they had been built over time, making a little city. our project quietly continues this process.

for the outdoor areas, of unusually generous dimensions, the project underlines the continuity of the vegetation of the fields through new plantations, in order to emphasize the sense of the site as a public garden.

the staircase that we designed, opening an existing cul-de-sac to connect the central patio to the old patio das caravelas situated on the top platform, as well as the direct connection created between the new library and the sports fields across the covered playground, are both transformations that help to emphasize the sense of the whole as a public garden and profoundly shape the daily living in the school.

on the other hand, the original buildings are restored as well as adapted to new needs, through minimum interventions, particularly in the external form and the finishes of the interior spaces.

finally, three new elements are added: a) a long two-storey building completes the outline of the original patio. it is discovered after a short path through the garden, as the new school entrance. designed as a public gallery, meeting and study space, along the courtyard – as a sheltered stoa – this building contains the new library on the ground floor and the new laboratories on the top floor, facing, eastward, the gardens of the school, the neighbouring fields and the city; b) the shower spaces are built under the old pátio das caravelas between the existing gym and the new covered sports field that is situated in one of the high platforms of the site; c) the original main atrium, never used as one, is now the atrium of a small multipurpose room, designed as a garden pavilion, which the population of the school calls "magic cube".

given the beauty of the original francisco de arruda school situation, once again the clear and direct words of joão dos santos served as a greater stimulus to the project: "what is important in education, first of all, is the natural and aesthetically harmonious environment in which it takes place."  

josé neves: francisco de arruda school view of the new entrance. photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

josé neves: francisco de arruda school the new atrium: the windows and the bridges face the patio and the garden. photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

josé neves: francisco de arruda school the atrium is connected with the school vegetable garden, eastward, through three transparent staircases. photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

josé neves: francisco de arruda school the wooden opaque windows at both sides can be opened to let in the sound and the air of the garden. photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

josé neves: francisco de arruda school the new atrium of the school is a room to wander and to stay, to play and to study. photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

josé neves: francisco de arruda school east elevation. the library is located on the ground floor and the laboratories on the upper floor. photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

josé neves: francisco de arruda school view of the noble room where once was intended to be the main entrance. photographer: joão morgado

josé neves: francisco de arruda school view of the new covered playing field from the old pátio das caravelas. photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

josé neves: francisco de arruda school gymnasium after intervention photographer: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra

josé neves: francisco de arruda school site plan

josé neves: francisco de arruda school 2nd and 3rd level plans

project info

location: lisbon project year: 2008-2009 construction year: 2009-2011 architect: josé neves colaborators: rui sousa pinto, ana belo, andré matos, filipe cameira, martim enes dias, nuno florêncio, steven evans, vitor quaresma; joão pernão, maria capelo (colour consultants). landscape architecture: f|c engineering: betar, sm&lm, pen, natural works photographs: laura castro caldas & paulo cintra; joão morgado client: parque escolar

googlemaps coordinates: 38.706942,-9.187188 gps coordinates: 38º 42.406’ n; 9º 11.236’ o

josé simões neves, gabinete de arquitectura lda. rua das chagas, 17, 3ºdto, 1200-106 – lisboa, portugal t: +351 213 420 935 contact: [email protected] http://www.joseneves.net

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions’  feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here