Housing in Viana do Castelo
Alexandre Alves Costa, Sergio Fernandez
and José Luis Gomes (Atelier 15)

The block building unifies two previously separated sectors, and has four floors, sitting on top of two other ones for underground parking. The ground-floor was designed for commerce, the first floor for one-storey apartments, and the second and third floors for two-storey apartments, with access by a gallery. In total, there are 27 shops and 55 apartments. The gallery, a meeting place, has been dimensioned as an airway, and is mainly located on the North side of the building. It crosses the street separating the two units, and provides the constructed masses with the formal and operating unity required.

At ground-floor level, the central apexes have been left empty, thereby visually and functionally uniting the two common areas.

This design was an opportunity to realize a city by means of architecture, in what is most relevant in urban living: public spaces. Between family architecture and public facilities, a series of spaces were conceived, ranging from the public to the semi-private, from the open to the confined. With greater or lesser formality, these spaces organise the multiple facets of social life that represent and cement the urban community.

 Project Conjunto Habitacional em Viana do Castelo
 Location Viana do Castelo
 Project 2001/2002
 Building 2002/2005
 Architects Alexandre Alves Costa e Sergio Fernandez (ATELIER 15, Arquitectura Lda)
 Collaborators Eduardo Ribeiro, Ivo Oliveira, José Mário Macedo, Miguel Ribeiro e Paulo Monteiro
 Client VianaPolis
 Photo ATELIER 15