Sustainability and urban regeneration: transformation of an old factory site in Guimarães

Abstract

The task assigned for University of Minho Studio 1B - Sustainability and REAP Students in the year 2011-2012 1st semester was to assess an old industrial site and propose solutions for its regeneration, paying special attention to the areas of Energy, Noise, Materials and Water. The contents presented in this booklet are the result of a collaborative effort between professors of the HafenCity Universität and the University of Minho in Portugal as a beginning of further Erasmus partnership between the REAP Masters in HCU and Integrated Master of Architecture at Minho University. The industrial site chosen for the project is located in the northwestern part of Portugal in the town of Guimaraes. The historic city, also referred to as “the birthplace of Portugal”, has rich cultural roots, earning it the title of European Cultural Capital 2012 by the European Commission. The project site, as the host to four 100-year-old textile factories, embodies the European Cultural Capital 2012 goals to revitalize the historic architecture of the city in vibrant new ways. The site itself is located just outside the city centre to the south, bound by the streets Caldeirôa, Colégio Militar, Manuel Eduardo de Almeida and the Avenues Conde Margaride and D. Afonso Henriques. Numerous amenities surround the site, including the main train station, Vila Flor Cultural Center and a balanced mix of commercial and residential buildings. This document is the result of work done in three phases: the Analysis Phase, the Concept Phase and finally the Design Solutions. In the first phase, the situation in the site was analyzed with specific focus on Energy, Material, Water, Accessibilities, Amenities and Noise. In addition, the benefits of urban regeneration, especially considering the fact of Guimarães being in 2012 the European Capital of Culture were also analyzed. The University of Minho students conducted a site visit to gain a first hand understanding of the project area and than exchanged information with the HafenCity Universität students, that visited the site a few weeks later, during an intensive one week workshop that was held in University of Minho with all the students involved. Apart from a visit to the site, the workshop included also the presentation of several ideas for the possible regeneration of the site taking into consideration the results from the Analysis already developed by the groups. The final phase of the workshop consisted on the presentation of the solutions in the form of a poster. This book contains a condensed version of the Analysis and Proposal Design Solution phases and was prepared by five groups of students from the HafenCity Universität and included also the works from four groups of students from the University of Minho and the individual work of one student from each group from the University of Minho.