Vivaci Guarda
Guarda, Portugal
2008–2005
The mono-functional character of the shopping centre has often made difficult its capacity as a programme to generate a well-balanced urbanity. In this regard, projects developed in the consolidated urban fabric, – projects that are able to instil and restore the sometimes lost desirability of historical centres –, have been civically more successful than the peripheral, car-only ex-urban model of big-box retail.
In this context, this small shopping centre in the hinterland of Portugal is inscribed in the heart of the time-honoured city of Guarda, located on the boundary between its historical core and the disqualified 1980s urban expansion. Designed for an extremely narrow and long plot and bridging a grade level difference of 20 metres between the bordering streets, the building comprises 5 levels of retail and leisure in addition to 3 levels of underground parking. Adjoining the slope, it literally functions as a funicular connecting pedestrians from the lower to the upper town.
Besides the supermarket anchor, this unusual ensemble includes nearly 80 shops, 4 cinemas and a food court with views to the city. Inside, the open void evolves in a revolving crescendo in conjunction with the position of the escalators, that culminates in a large hexagonal skylight designed in a kaleidoscopic combination of terrazzo colour stripes identifying each level. The facade suggests itself as an abstraction of the geological metaphor of the slope, with the layers of the floor levels posited as zigzagging panels of white precast concrete elements, occasionally interrupted by fissures of coloured glass.
Southeast façade
South façade
Parking entrance
Central court
Central court
Food court
Food court
Central court
Study model
Location: Guarda, Portugal
Developer: FDO Imobiliaria, SA
Project brief: Community mall in historical centre
Gross built area: 21,900 sq. m (12,250 sq. m below grade)
Gross leasable area: 14,000 sq. m
Shops: 82
Parking: 395
Construction cost: EUR 31.4M
Photography: Fernando Guerra, Promontorio (model)
Project status: 2005 (concept design) – 2008 (built and open to public)
Level 3 entrance
Level 0 entrance
Constructive detail section
A. Roof
Stone floor tiles 50x50cm
Thermal insulation 60mm
Waterproof membrane with betouminous coat
Screed finished to falls 1.5% Minimum pitch
Reinforced concrete slab 250mm
B. Facades
White precast concrete panels with bas relief striae 120mm
Stainless steel dogs imbedded in the concrete structure 40mm
Thermal insulation 40mm
Mansory block wall 110mm
Extruded polystyrene (xps) panel 100mm
Glass reinforcement concrete with plaster finish
Zinc coping
C. Frame systems
Stainless steel tubular frame 100x50x5mm
Flush double glazing w/ 8mm cavity and neoprene membrane
D. Public areas
Ceilings in drywall suspended system 13mm
Pavement
Terrazzo with epoxy paint 10mm
Concrete screed infill 90mm
Reinforced concrete slab 250mm
Handrail
Laminated double glazing w/ 4mm cavity 12mm
Stainless steel hollow tube handrail
U-steel ledge profile 370x10mm
Bulkheads
HEA 100 steel ledge profile 100x100x6mm
L-steel ledge profile 100x50x6mm
E. Landscaping
Granite cube pavement 100x100mm
Settlement 80mm
Sand box 150mm
Compressed land
Granite raised kerb 150x500mm
Granite tiles 60mm
F. Entrance door
Swinging door in stainless steel frame 40x20x5mm
Laminated and tempered double glazing 6.8mm
G. Parking
Concrete containment wall 50cm
Cavity with drainage gutter
Concrete block mansory 110mm
Profiled varnished galvanized steel plate
Concrete hardener on concrete pavement