Leiria is an important point in the network of medieval Portuguese cities.
In order to revitalise the city’s central shopping area, in 2007 Leiria Municipal Authority issued a call for tenders for the construction and operation of a new retail unit with around 50,000 m2 of floor space, which was aimed at commercial promoters and operators.
The conditions for the award of the project included designing and building the public areas around the unit, a multipurpose pavilion, and a marketplace, all of which were then to be handed over to the municipality. The idea was to build on the results of the interventions that had already taken place under the Polis Programme.
Risco was invited to take part in this process by one of the consortia that tendered for the project – MULTI/LENA. Our job was to design the urban layout, the infrastructures, the public areas, and the buildings.
The area of intervention is almost entirely situated on a section of alluvial plain on the left bank of the River Lis. The fact that the castle mound and the river are close by, the stadium that was built for Euro 2004, and the existing city were all important elements when it came to defining the urbanistic concept.
The location and design of the shopping centre were the key to the rest of the proposal. It was decided to place the shopping centre closer to the middle of the city, so as to build up an urban retail area incorporated into the overall fabric of the city as a whole.
We proposed the construction of a large park of municipal facilities in the stadium area, to include the stadium itself, swimming pools, and the multipurpose pavilion. The whole was linked together using tree-lined public pedestrian areas with a permeable surface for the enjoyment of the population.
The road system was reformulated to take maximum advantage of the new bridge on Avenida Euro 2004. The idea was to provide a continuous pedestrian and cycling zone between the traditional centre of Leiria and the stadium area, without prejudicing mobility on the roads and while simultaneously ensuring that the transport needs of the new shopping centre would be properly served.
Leiria Central Area Conversion
Location
Leiria
Client
Multi Development Corporation and Lena Construções
Date
2007 – ...
Architecture and Urban Design
Manuel Salgado, Nuno Lourenço, Jorge Estriga, Carlos Cruz, João Almeida e Tomás Salgado with NPK
Site Area
16,7 ha
Build Area
71.483 m2
Competition – 1st prize
