Renaissance Porto Lapa Hotel: balancing the impossible
Photography by © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
Photography by © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
The proposed challenge – to design a 163-room hotel in a very central location, which would be decisive in the rehabilitation of the site with about 2 hectares, and which would respect strict sustainability criteria – was concluded with multiple responses.
To establish an urban relationship with the existing hillside in the historic neighbourhood of Lapa, the main façade was covered with a micro perforated metallic envelope that works as a “second skin”, protecting and making the building visually lighter. The metallic “sails” that form a geometric pattern evoke both the boats on the Douro River and the design of the hydraulic mosaics, in homage to the elements that mark Porto.
The rhythm of the coating’s metallic elements is reinforced through the projection of multiple shadows, which evolve throughout the day with the movement of the sun.
Rhythm and diversity are also present on the west façade, where a coating system with vertical elements of great lightness and plasticity, in natural wood, connects to the large green park.
This covering also draws different textures and compositions, of geometric voids, in a contemporary approach where sustainability positions the work as a statement of the future.
A very expressive flap was chosen to mark the relationship of scale with the building. It works as the element that marks the entrance to those who arrive and connects the two volumes that make up the hotel.
The infinity pool, suspended in the void by 3 meters advanced over the rooftop and overlooking the Atlantic, is the meeting point between the hotel and the city, assuming itself as a new privileged viewpoint of the “Best City Destination in the World 2022”: Porto.