Escola Secundária Garcia Da Orta
Winters in Oporto are usually cold and wet, with heavy rain during much of the school year.
This school was built in the 1970s as a series of separate pavilions. It was included in the modernization of Portuguese secondary schools, a program with the aim of introducing new resources that are now considered to be essential for public education.
In the context of the new program and the climate, we designed a building that is the school’s central space. It complies with the brief and provides a large recreational area that is external but covered.
The building is linear, and opening onto the covered area are two of the most dynamic parts of the school: the library and the cafeteria. It is located in the space between the existing buildings and, suggesting dislocation this led to a roof design for the open area that appears to be unstable and not supported. Strong colours in the new environments contrast neutrality of the classrooms, and the greatest intensity is in the great covered “square”.
