Autumn 2019

31 Jul19409 Portuguese Architects Design Sophisticated Success Architectural design, a key part of any construction project, ensures a building security and functionality as well as its aesthetic appeal. For over 20 years, one Portuguese firm has been delivering this essential and crucial service for a wide array of private and public clients. Meet one of this year’s leading studio’s Joaquim Portela Arquitetos – and discover their secrets to success. Since its inception in 1997, JPA has functioned as an architectural laboratory, dreaming up and carrying out exhaustive research on architectonic solutions. The team works predominantly with hand-drawn sketches and paper models in order to achieve effortless communication with clients, allowing for a mutual focus on balanced architectural solutions. Working both with private investors and public organisations, the firm assists clients in in their exploration of large-scale projects, as well as in the rigorous and intimate detailing demanded for their execution. Joaquim Portela guarantees that communication between the design studio and the client is as clear and easy as possible, maximising results that are of the highest architectural standards while delivering on practical needs. On the detailing phases of each of its unique projects, JPA works in collaboration with other offices on 3D visualisation images, so that all parties involved have a reliable and sure-fire mock-up of how the final result will look. Each project is undertaken with patience, intimate knowledge of detail and a passion for contemporary innovation. The distinctive paper models, masterfully formed, reveal every aspect of the proposed building project in fine detail, giving the client the precise means to imagine what the future holds. Whether it is the smooth outer walls or exquisitely folded kitchen chairs inside, JPA’s paper models are unrivalled in their excellence. In terms of style, the studio’s work is emblematic of sleek sophistication and smart solutions that rework tired notions of contemporary architecture. Its award-winning design for a Swiss Alpine chapel perfectly encapsulates this ethos – the concrete space, which slants up towards the sky, features an angular skylight that floods the minimalistic wood and marble-lined interiors with natural light. Though daring from the outside, a respect for the site’s purpose – a space of introspection and communal simplicity – is built into its design and forms. The combined professional experience of the studio’s 10 architects adds up to a highly dynamic and successful working environment. Each one works directly with the project coordinator to ensure that JPA’s values and visions are maintained at all stages of the project construction. Its senior architects supervise any commissions to firms outside of the studio, assuring quality standards from all parties, at all levels. These are exciting times for JPA and consequently, Portugal – the firm is currently working on large-scale projects such as the new Museum of Portuguese Language, an established university, multiple wineries, a legal innovation centre, and numerous residential units. The studio is also finishing its own project of love: a new studio and office space in Porto that will allow for the team’s expansion and a streamlining of working methods. The cornerstone of JPA’s success is clear: its commitment to delivering architectural design that gratifies the client while still remaining true to its own creative and intellectual process. The firm is undoubtedly one of 2019’s leaders in design. Company: Joaquim Portela Arquitetos Contact: +351 222 450 169 Website: https://www.joaquimportelaarquitetos.com/