The intervention developed by Visioarq was responsible for the innovation and modernization of the site, as well as its dialectic relationship with the surroundings. A global intervention – at the level of exterior and interior – allowed the revival of the Gira Solum, stating it as a Shopping Center that knew how to reinvent itself in Coimbra.
Gira Solum is a small shopping center of convenience, that offers 115 fashion stores, services and catering, among others, spread over four floors.
A clean and objective language was used to strengthen the formal composition of the building: in the salient volumes a white synthetic plaster and in the recessed areas a light creamy material (calcareous type). This duality of texture and color reinforced the clarity in the reading of the building and its horizontality.
For the disorderly application of the air conditioners, sliding and perforated plate blades and a brie-soleils system were created, which form a hidden structure for the reorganization of all the devices in question. These blades also allow to simulate the increase of areas of spans in the facade, giving greater lightness to the volumetry of the building.
In this logic of composition, it was also tried to restructure the existing guards, replacing them with more modern ones and of superior quality and framed in the global concept of the intervention, constituted by a structure in brushed stainless steel, ending in a tubular rod also in steel.
For the total balance of the building, it was decided to reinforce the verticality of the outer stair blocks, maintaining the interior structure, but completely reformulating the exterior reading. The cylindrical shape gave way to an orthogonal that extends to the roof, as if it “embraced” the building.
The terraced area was fully standardized and, in volumetric terms, created the foundation that the building lacks in terms of composition. Perfectly covered and bounded by the creation of walls that serve both as flowerbeds and as a resting point, these elements make a perfect union in functional terms with access to the building and its surroundings.
In order to finish the proposed solution abroad, tensile ceilings were created in the external consoles, with strips of translucent screen in order to take advantage of the already existing reinforcements. A building lighting system was also created that gave it the dignity it deserves at night, which made it more commercial and appealing.
