Amarante, Portugal
Casa da Memória occupies the site of the former Solar dos Magalhães, which is in ruins and of which the structural stone walls remain. The original building has two floors covering a total of around 900m2. The new areas to be built, with an area of approximately 700m2, will have access from a lower level, allowing the roof to be covered with vegetation. The intervention is completed with the reconstruction of a previously demolished house with a blind gable.
The new partially buried building will be made entirely of solid concrete slabs and walls. In the existing building, the new solid concrete slabs rest on the existing stone walls.
The main complexity of the work was introduced by the need to excavate the vertical communication core between the two buildings, about 8 meters deep, inside the old manor house and consequently the need to suspend part of the existing structure.
