Ocean View

The new residential complex on the Avenida Marginal in Cascais, Portugal, is really unique due to solution of its facades created on the basis of a modified Reynaers CP 155 sliding system.

Cascais is a seaside town some 30 kilometres south of the capital, Lisbon. Its main avenue, and the first for those arriving from the north, is the Avenida Marginal, which runs along the waterfront. One of the most interesting – from an architectural and planning point of view – large-scale building complexes built in Portugal in recent years has been built at this point of entry to the town. This new complex is located on the site of the Hotel Estoril Sol, a 1950s building, of some 20 stories which was demolished as a result of an allocation plan aimed at completely restructuring this key area of the town.

The removal of this building left a dramatic scar in the landscape, revealing the fragility of the slope at the back of the former hotel. The difference in elevation between the platform of its implemantation and the slopes of the Ribeira da Castelhana Valley, the gateway to Parque Palmela park, is nearly 30 metres, a difference that was revealed as a radical gash in the topography by the absence of the building. In this context two major objectives were set for the project: on the one hand, reconciling the division between the sea/lower level and the park/higher level by expanding the existing park along the reconverted slope; and on the other, creating a luxury residential building that would make the most of the excellent location.

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