Judiciary Police Headquarters
The design is an homage to the culture of one of the most prestigious Portuguese police forces, resulting in a rigorous building on a human scale that is perfectly integrated into its surroundings. Built based on a hierarchy of geometric recessed spaces, the exterior image reflects austere lines with glassed surfaces intercalating with opaque elements, achieving a balanced composition between volumes and window openings. This apparent transparency and randomness help to reduce the exterior impact that is common in buildings of this size.
The interior spaces are equipped with the latest technology and security devices, making the Criminal Police Headquarters one of the most modern corporate buildings in Portugal. Moreover, the inclusion of courtyards prioritised natural lighting, providing games of clarity and shade and pleasant workspaces that minimise stress and agitation. At the top of the new building a heliport was added; and the exterior spaces includes parking space for 500 cars.
«The idea was to evoke a greater proximity than that which is traditionally adopted in a public building of this kind, with a complex built on a humanised scale which is rigorous yet not austere, dominant yet not domineering, for the building to reflect its institutional nature without being oppressive.»
The design included the construction of a new building with a physical connection, in the form of a walkway, to the pre-existing building, improvement and renovation works for the prison service building, the construction of a new gatehouse and redevelopment of the external spaces.
The undertaking sits on the plot with a north-east/south-west orientation; it has a maximum of 11 floors above the ground floor level, which are interconnected by means of specific stairwells and elevator shafts. Two large central courtyards are intercalated between the volumes and unify the built complex. All new buildings in the complex were given flexibility and modular capacity, thus anticipating possible spatial reorganisations if the organics of the services demand this.
