School and jazz club in Porto

Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de la Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona

Project idea

In the heart of Porto's historic centre, halfway between two of its most emblematic monuments, the Cathedral and Sao Bento Station, stands the imposing escarpment of Avenida da Ponte. A vestige formed by the remains of a great urban intervention which, over the years, time and vegetation have naturalized to give it the artificial character of a geographical feature.

In this unique settlement, the proposal to create a project in which music and one of its most special genres, jazz, find a space to flow freely, becomes a unique opportunity to give a second life to this forgotten place.

Thus, being aware of the massiveness and monumental presence of the current rock, but at the same time, of its human origin; our idea aims to consolidate this stereotomic image through an intervention capable of regularising and simplifying the multiple edges, formed by the uncontrolled accumulation of urban debris. As if it were a sculpture, the project chisels the stone mass until it reveals a pure volume, cleanly sculpted in the granite.

This desire to create a new great rock, together with the drastic variations in elevation characteristic of the city and the needs of the functional programme itself, converge in a project with two intrinsically connected dimensions: a large base that houses the Auditorium and the Club, and an upper volume where the School develops its academic activity. Two spaces structured by a large central outdoor courtyard and a vertical hall in which, like a soft jazz melody, a sublime staircase flows between the floors.

One rock and two worlds. Two worlds united conceptually by music and spatially by light.

Project description

As introduced in the previous section, the project is divided into two main parts: the base with the Auditorium and the Club, and the upper volume with the jazz School. This distribution allows both areas to be connected internally but having their own entrance from the outside, being able to function independently in certain contexts.

Thus, access to the lower volume is from the avenue through a large opening in the solid wall. Once inside, the space is distributed into three areas: the central hall, the club on the right and the auditorium or multi-use room on the left.

The club has a single level with a large table area, with the stage at the back and a bar at the side. According with the ambience of this type of venue, the club is completely closed off to the outside except for a skylight that sharply brings light in behind the bar.

The auditorium takes advantage of the great height available due to the downward slope of the street precisely to achieve the desired multi-purpose use. Thus, the great feature of this space is the integration of a system of folding bleachers that allows the celebration of all kinds of shows.

Finally, this lower part is completed with a continuous and walkable roof which creates another of the project's main objectives: a large public plaza and viewpoint. This is a great space that generates a new urban connection between streets and offers a new high view of the entire historic centre.

It is precisely from this plaza that the upper volume of the school is accessed. It is developed as a kind of ring around a large central outdoor courtyard which, together with the vertical hall, connects it with the rest of the lower part. The school is divided into two floors. The ground floor houses the more public rooms such as the library and the cafeteria, while the upper floor houses most of the classrooms.

Technical information

Structural system

Except for the foundations and retaining walls, the entire structure of the project was made of steel. This choice responds to a series of characteristics such as the need to bridge large spans and the possibility of industrialised prefabrication.

Thus, the structural system is based on a series of steel frames (S275) with articulated joints that make up the primary order. It, in turn, supports a secondary order of steel joists and a slab of steel deck.
The general structure, like the project, can be divided into two large areas or types of frame: the auditorium and jazz club area and the jazz school area.

In the first one, the structural system is made up of large trusses which change their length, adjusting to the angular geometry of these spaces and trying to avoid the appearance of intermediate supports due to the open-plan nature of these rooms.

In the jazz school area, on the other hand, the structure is resolved with a simple system of beam-column frames which are located on the façades of the building. A unique feature of the structure in this area is the corner overhang at the entrance resolved with two pairs of trusses.

Construction system

According to the idea of creating a large volume with a solid appearance, the exterior façades of the entire project are resolved with the following construction system: an inner wall of double concrete block, 12 cm of thermal insulation of rock wool, a substructure of adjustable brackets, a ventilated air chamber and finally an exterior cladding of granite slabs.
On the inside, the façade is completed with a plasterboard cladding which changes in shape and size to achieve better acoustic conditions.

This construction solution not only achieves the desired aesthetic result but also provides great acoustic insulation due to its great thickness. This is a fundamental characteristic in a building intended for music practice.