2011 / PT - Pedras Salgadas
Competition; not built
Invitation competition, 2nd place
Client: VMPS - Águas e Turismo S.A.
Authorship: Nuno Graça Moura
Collaboration: Carlos Castro
Engineering: A400 - Projectistas e Consultores de Engenharia Civil, Lda
3D images: 3dRAR - Rendering Architecture
The “Grande Hotel”, along with the spa, is the most significant and important building in the park. Their presence stands out in the whole group of buildings. The toponymy itself is revealing of this importance. It was the first hotel to be built and later expanded into one more floor. Even if it is not a particularly relevant architectural example, it is a part of Pedras Salgadas memory. As such it must be maintained and refurbished. (...) Due to a disastrous redevelopment in the 90'rs, the “Hotel Avelames” became a caricature of the original building and its organization reveals several problems. Therefore it should be demolished. The demolition of the hotel allows the replacement of the massive trees that existed between the hotel and the old Casino. (...) We propose there the construction of small scale buildings. More than conventional “apartments”, we’ve designed small individual houses with a small scale and small visual impact in the park. (...) We envisage that the whole area of the park is forbidden to car traffic, except emergency or service vehicles. Guests, visitors and employees will be asked to leave their cars parked along the ancient “Garages” building and will move in electric vehicles. This reduces pollution and the unpleasant constant presence of the car in the park.
© Nuno Graça Moura