Paço de Arcos School

Paço d’Arcos, Oeiras

Escola Luís de Freitas Branco is located in a suburban area shaped by housing, major roads and scattered commercial facilities, on a site formerly occupied by agricultural fields and industrial structures.

Built in the 1970s, the school consisted of small prefabricated pavilions scattered across a steeply sloping site. As the surrounding area developed, the complex became increasingly isolated from the town, with poor access, difficult internal circulation and severely degraded buildings.

The project rehabilitates the existing pavilions and reorganises the school around two new public spaces: an entrance square and a recreation courtyard. Two new buildings — the Central Building and the Educational Building — define these spaces and restructure circulation, establishing clear connections between the different areas of the school. Circulation itself becomes part of the educational environment: a space for movement, gathering and study.

The main entrance is redesigned to reconnect the school with Paço de Arcos.

Following the intervention, the school recorded improved academic performance, a significant increase in student numbers and greater use of its facilities by the local community throughout the year.