The adaptation of a mixed-use building on Calçada da Glória into a 3-star hotel with apartments required a careful balance between refurbishment, regulatory compliance and the preservation of the property’s architectural identity. COLUNA supported the process through Integrated Design, developing a set of technical packages essential to the hotel’s viability within an intervention that reorganised the building into 25 accommodation units and integrated reception, guest support spaces, pantry, laundry, storage and technical areas, while preserving, wherever possible, the existing spatial structure and architectural elements.
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Assets Type
Hospitality & Tourism
Customer Profiles
Real Estate Investor
Services
Integrated Design
Type of Interventions
Refurbishment and Conversion
Gross Area
1,250 sq m
Investment
EUR 800,000
Start / Completion Year
2023 – 2024
Current Status
Completed
Gallery
Key Challenges
and Solutions Adopted
The project focused on a building previously used for retail and residential purposes, including registered short-term accommodation, requiring its conversion into a more structured hospitality programme aligned with current operational and regulatory requirements. The proposal reorganised the asset without major structural alteration, retaining the existing staircase, the licensed lift and, wherever feasible, the original compartmentation.
The intervention was developed with a strong concern for material and architectural continuity, including the cleaning and restoration of the existing stonework, the preservation of the original metalwork, the retention of existing colours and window frames, and the introduction of new internal divisions using lightweight acoustically insulated systems. This approach allowed the building to be adapted to a new use without losing its identity within a consolidated urban setting.
The future unit was structured as a 3-star hotel with apartments, combining different accommodation typologies, from single and double rooms to studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, as well as a suite. This diversity required a clear floor-by-floor organisation, articulating accommodation units with reception, breakfast and lounge areas, staff facilities, linen storage, pantry, laundry and technical areas.
The building presented the typical constraints of a dense historic urban front, particularly in relation to emergency access, façade protection and the adjustment of certain openings and evacuation routes. The development of the engineering scope therefore required a rigorous regulatory reading and a technical response capable of reconciling safety, operation and the constraints of the existing building.
Services provided
Within the scope of Integrated Design, COLUNA developed the technical packages essential to adapting the building to hospitality use, ensuring an articulated response across safety, comfort, acoustic performance and building infrastructure. This work provided a coherent technical basis for licensing and future implementation, aligning the requirements of the new hospitality programme with the characteristics of the existing property.
Outcome: an integrated technical solution prepared to support the conversion of the asset into a functional hotel, properly framed from a regulatory perspective and robust in operational terms.
Results /
Impact for the Client
- Structured technical basis for the conversion of a mixed-use building into a hospitality asset
- Organisation of the programme into 25 accommodation units with differentiated typologies
- Reconciliation of regulatory requirements, hotel operation and architectural continuit
- Stronger technical robustness for licensing and delivery
- Better preparation of the asset for qualified hospitality operation
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