Marvila OR13
a new public promenade

The new Public Promenade of Marvila is a residential project developed for the urban rehabilitation association Lisboa Ocidental SRU - Sociedade de Reabilitação Urbana, within the framework of the affordable housing programme introduced by Lisbon City Council. Located in the east of Lisbon, in the civil parish of Marvila, the project area consists of a strip of land on the edge of Av. Avelino Teixeira da Mota, spanning a length of approximately 440 linear metres, currently occupied by a car park.

Overlooking Chelas valley and with a view over the Tagus River, the project location creates a symbolic interface between rural and urban life: to one side, the northeast, a highly rural landscape, delineated by the presence of the allotment gardens of Chelas Valley City Park; to the other, the southwest, an urban environment, a state and municipal initiative built during the 20th century.

The idea of converting part of the current car park on Av. Avelino Teixeira da Mota into affordable housing forms an essential part of the sustainability of a city that aims to be experienced predominantly by its inhabitants, with the regeneration of the urban fabric of Marvila forming a key part of this strategy. In recent years, Marvila is an area of the city which has been little explored and perhaps for this reason stigmatised. It nevertheless has huge potential for development and could contribute to the creation of attractive new urban residential areas that are sustainable and well suited to new ways of living, supported by shared amenities and high-quality safe public spaces.

The strategy to respond to the preliminary programme and specific characteristics of this place required the delineation of a large public space capable of connecting all the defined areas on the level of the public promenade. The proposed intervention consists of 2 linear residential buildings, 5 and 6 storeys high, one with 3 residential blocks and the other with 2, with a total of 120 apartments, and whose implementation specifically and subtly responds to the curvature of Av. Avelino Teixeira da Mota; and of 1 large continuous tree-lined and inviting public space which establishes a constant level connection between the pavement, the new buildings and the surrounding environment.