School of Architecture and Visual Arts, Évora

School of Architecture and Visual Arts, University of Évora

3rd Prize, Prequalified Public Competition

The Fábrica dos Leões is a former industrial complex on the outskirts of Évora, adapted to accommodate a School of Architecture and Visual Arts. Despite its limited architectural and heritage value, the existing buildings provide a robust spatial and typological framework capable of accommodating a new programme.

Rather than replacing the existing structures, the intervention removes what is redundant and introduces only what is necessary for their new use. The project preserves the spatial character of the industrial complex while inserting a new layer of architecture, deliberately distinct from the existing fabric.

The resulting condition is neither restoration nor replacement, but accumulation. Existing structures and new interventions coexist without being formally reconciled, producing a hybrid architecture in which different times, materials and uses remain legible. The existing complex is understood not as an object to be preserved, but as an open framework capable of continuous transformation.