“We had so many great architects working here, like Pardal Monteiro… and we will be the next ones to take on the challenge. This is a spectacular opportunity.” The words of Daniel Rego, one of the members of the Projeto Arco do Cego, mirror the enthusiasm that drives the team in the latest intervention at the Campus Alameda of the Instituto Superior Técnico.

Projeto Arco do Cego, led by professor João Gomes Ferreira, Técnico’s vice president for Facilities and Equipment, and with coordination by professors Teresa Heitor and Antonio Barreiros Ferreira, began in 2013 with the transfer of the facility that was the former Arco do Cego bus station from Lisbon’s City Council (CML) to Técnico. Today, the project has clearly defined goals, which involve integration into the campus, rehabilitation and preservation of heritage, and also the possibility of being used independently.

“The building has great historical value. It has a relation with the city that we wanted to keep (and this was indeed a prerequisite from Lisbon’s City Council)”, explains Professor José Maria Lobo de Carvalho, responsible for an earlier study on the protection and valorisation of the asset. “This implies great responsibility as well because we can’t start from scratch, but it makes it a much more interesting challenge. We have to use a lot of creativity.”

Recently, the team finished a preliminary study of the existing building – which is currently a public parking structure with a single façade – and addressed some of the specific problems of creating an area with such diverse functions as the ones Arco do Cego will have. “When offering the building, Lisbon’s City Council imposed a few conditions on us: the integration of the fire station is a major one, and a huge headache”, recalls professor Teresa Heitor. “It is anything but simple to integrate areas with very specific characteristics that conflict with other uses.”

In Arco do Cego’s new space, which is being designed to be organized by volumes, the fire station, a 24-hour study hall and a multipurpose area as well as a group of commercial and catering services will all coexist. This approach, which translates the space into functional modules, “will organize the different needs that exist” and “allow the project to develop without interfering with the existing structure,” explains Ana Rita Gonçalves, part of the work team.

Although the project keeps the façade of the building, a nineteenth century industrial facility, the project contemplates a number of alternatives that are very contemporary. There was, in the new project, a clear intention to promote interaction between the building’s interior and the garden. “It is a campus that opens itself to the garden, a campus that opens itself to the city,” said Jose Maria Lobo de Carvalho.

The connection to the city is, in fact, one of the starting points for the project that can be seen on these pages. “The city’s dynamics have changed the accessibility to the campus [at Alameda] and have made what was once the back of the campus more important”, said Teresa Heitor. “The integration of Arco do Cego into the campus adds to that sentiment”. The use of this space by the residents of the city, through the multipurpose area or fire station, reinforces this connection. “This is not an area dedicated exclusively to students”, assures Ana Rita Gonçalves.

At this time, the “most creative stage of the project”, carried out by the Architecture Project Team composed of Professor Antonio Barreiros Ferreira, as coordinator, Daniel Rego, Ana Rita Gonçalves, Katherine Both and Maria João Tato, has finally come to an end. Currently, studies are being conducted on crucial solutions for the use of the space, such as thermal and acoustic insulation. These represent “the largest conflict” between the various needs of the new building, explains Katherine Both.

For these four former students, who all studied architecture at Técnico, to participate in a project of this scale is “a spectacular opportunity.” “It’s very exciting because we have a sense of affection for the campus and because we are improving what is our home”, says Maria João Tato. Daniel Rego also reminds, “We had so many great architects working here, like Pardal Monteiro… and now we will be the next ones to take on the challenge.” “It is an iconic project”, adds José Maria Lobo de Carvalho.