The 2011 Vasco Vilalva Award for restoration and valorisation of patrimony was awarded to a project for the renovation and adaptation of a Pombaline building, designed by the José Adrião Arquitetos studio.

Located in the heart of downtown Lisbon, at the intersection of Rua dos Fanqueiros and Rua da Conceição, the building was in an advanced state of disrepair and had undergone numerous interventions over time which had seriously affected its functional and structural integrity, particularly the cage structure, compromising its earthquake resistance. Most of the floors were vacant and abandoned.

The restoration project, which began in 2007, proposed a change in the building’s typology, increasing the number of flats from ten to fourteen, leading to the complete replacement of all infrastructure, along with careful repair of the missing structural elements. The building was converted into a short-term residential unit, named Baixa-House, and according to the project, could be converted into a permanent housing unit in the future.

This project was an important effort to revitalise Baixa as a residential area of choice, receiving unanimous approval from the jury, who considered it “an example of good practices in an area where urban regeneration is particularly sensitive”, emphasising “the way it achieved a contemporary expression while respecting the existing patrimony, as well as its urban and architectural nature”.

The jury, composed of Dalila Rodrigues, António Lamas, José Pedro Martins Barata, José Sarmento de Matos and Rui Esgaio, also highlighted “the consistency between the architectural design and the decoration of the building, particularly in the use and reuse of materials and objects”, as well as the “harmony between the architect and the owner of the building”.

From among the two dozen or so projects submitted for the award, this work was chosen from a shortlist of three finalists, which included the renovation and reuse of a building on Rua de Trindade Coelho in Porto and the work carried out at the Guimarães Commercial and Industrial Association (Casa dos Lobo Machado).

The Vilalva Award, worth €50,000, was created by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in honour of philanthropist Vasco Vilalva and is awarded annually to an exemplary intervention project in the field of patrimony (movable and immovable assets of cultural value).

First awarded in 2007 to the Treatment and Dissemination project of the Casa Sabugosa and São Lourenço Library in Lisbon, this is its fifth edition. In 2008, the Department of Historical and Artistic Patrimony of the Diocese of Beja was honoured for the projects Monumentos Vivos (Living Monuments) and Festival Terras sem Sombra (Festival of Sacred Music of the Lower Alentejo). In 2009, the award was again presented in Alentejo, for the restoration and enhancement of the Roman ruins in the city of Ammaia (Marvão) and, last year, it went to the Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament for its work in restoring and enhancing the Church of the Sacrament in Chiado, Lisbon.