SORGAL

Offices

2017/2018
Torres Novas, Portugal

As part of a general study being carried out to upgrade several of the group's facilities, SORGAL S.A. requested us to lead a Conception/Construction process to rehabilitate a small office facility in a model factory, the Lamarosa Unit. An infrastructure from the ’70s, the existing building was outdated in many ways and was unable to provide the workflow and space required by a contemporary office. It comprised an area dedicated to the conventional office set up but also contained areas that housed factory support services, changing rooms, showers, sanitary facilities.

The proposed intervention maintained the external carcass of the structure and totally removed its labyrinthine interior, transforming it into a big empty container. On the facades, the structural design was amplified, all the windows – both frames and glass were changed, and the sequence of voids and enclosed walls were reworked.

In order to address the changes that contemporary offices have come to expect in recent years, a large multifunctional room was created. It would become a place for institutional meetings, skype conferences, as well as a place that could house teams that had been temporarily displaced and were working from there. Taking this keyspace as the reference, the building was then organized with a longitudinal division, one big translucent open space for the office and an opaque sequence of small spaces for infrastructures.

To serve these spaces and qualify the ambiance of the space, a large cupboard was designed. This piece of furniture, as well as having a functional purpose, also negotiates the boundary between the office spaces and the infrastructural spaces, giving direction and meaning to space as a whole.

Year – 2017 | 2018
Client – SORGAL S.A.

Location – Lamarosa, Torres Novas, Portugal
GPS – 39°31'44.0"N   8°28'16.6"W
Site Area | Area – 450 sq.m | 300 sq.m
Budget – 334.000,00€
Status – built
 
Partners – Albuquerque Goinhas, Cristina de Mendonça, Nuno Griff
 
Project Team – Marion Gouges, Oscar Barnay
 
Engineering – Pedro Viegas (PFV)  
 
Contractor – EMBAIXADA
 
Photography – Mercês Tomaz Gomes (MTG)