Renovation to seduce. Hotel in Coimbra by depA Architects

The renovation project designed by depA Architects is a project in a very delicate environment, three pre-existing buildings around a Mediterranean patio are located in Coimbra, in the UNESCO World Heritage Protection Zone.

Hotel in Coimbra by depA Architects. Photograph by José Campos

The courtyard which aggregates the three buildings is open to the public and is the life heart of the new hotel. The use of traditional materials such as stone, wood and iron, becomes the protagonists of the intervention, making it coherent, serene and unified.

Description of project by depA Architects

The three pre-existing buildings around a mediterranean courtyard are located Coimbra, in the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Protection Zone.

In such delicate surroundings, the intervention seeks a delicate design balanced between the need for technical adaptations to contemporary building demands, the legal requirements for a contemporary hotel and the huge care that an intervention of this type requires. In other words, the adaption to the new program and the consequent deep intervention by all means paid deep respect for the historical relevance of the buildings and its great architectural and constructive values.

This balanced strategy allowed, at the same time, to clarify the difference between the preserved old elements and all the new and, above all, the difference between the three buildings: the former house on the upper level, the small palace on the lower level, and the third in-between, which is more picturesque.

The courtyard which aggregates the three buildings is open to the public and is the life heart of the new hotel.

The use of traditional materials such as stone, wood and iron, not only for for structural purposes but also for final details and finishings made, at the end, the whole intervention coherent and avoids a disruptive atmosphere or design.

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Site plan. Hotel in Coimbra by depA Architects.

First floor plan. Hotel in Coimbra by depA Architects.

Section. Hotel in Coimbra by depA Architects.

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More information

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Architects

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depA Architects

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Project Team

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Carlos Azevedo, João Crisóstomo, Luís Sobral, Miguel Santos, Sara Pontes, Margarida Leitão

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Collaborators

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Engeneering.- CPX, Ncrep, Mse. Consultants.- Financertus

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Area

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22.000,00m² 23680.6 ft²

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Dates

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Design.- 2014-2015. Construction.- 2016-2017

Carlos Azevedo, Carlos M. Guimarães, Luís Sobral, João Crisóstomo. depA

The depA collective was created in Porto in 2009. It is now run by Carlos Azevedo, João Crisóstomo and Luís Sobral and its staff covers the areas of architecture and the social sciences.

depA is focused on researching architectural practice through active listening on the idiosyncrasies of each project. There is a specific commitment to the dimension of time in the interventions: ranging from the interpretation of existing structures and architectural heritage to the open and progressive reintegration of spatial systems.

Some examples are the Casa da Cultura de Pinhel (Pinhel House of Culture), winner of the prize for best museum practice and an honourable mention by the Portuguese Association of Museology (2016), Casa do Rosário (Rosário House), winner of the Concreta Under 40 award (2017), honourable mention in the Nuno Teotónio Pereira prize in 2019 and honourable mention in the João de Almada Prize in 2019 and the Pavilhão do Lago (Lake Pavilion), winner of the FAD awards, in 2018.

Alongside this depA seeks to keep its practices and investigations relevant by taking part in competitions, which are special moments for wide-ranging and compelling research. Among them is the first prize achieved for the design of the Santiago Ydañez Museum of Contemporary Art (2010), in Jaén, Spain; the second place in the public tender for the renewal of Quinta de Baixo (2014), in Porto, and the first place for the design of the Mechanized Pedestrian Paths(2017), in collaboration with Pablo Pita architects, which will connect the riverside area of Porto to the upper town.

The collective has also designed more artistically focused projects that challenge the approach to architectural techniques, as well as being catalysts to a more pluralistic and cross-disciplinary conceptualisation. It was invited to design the set of the Fórum do Futuro (Forum of the Future) in 2018 and, that same year, Pavilhão do Lago (Lake Pavilion), built at Serralves Park as part of the 32nd São Paulo Bienalle - ‘Incerteza Viva’ (Living Uncertainty), was selected to be exhibited at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, as part of the 2018 Biennale di Venezia, while Sulco (2019) is part of the Desencaminharte project, which recognises and values artistic production in the Alto Minho region of Portugal. Alongside these projects, depA has also worked with Daniel Steegman, Lais Myrrha and Dayana Lucas, in close collaboration for the production of their projects.

In 2019, depA was awarded the tender for the curatorship of the Portuguese representation at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia, in 2020, with the In Conflict project.