ARX

António Augusto Aguiar 23 is a contemporary building within Lisbon’s urban expansion, developed under the Ressano Garcia Plan as part of a strategy to drive the city’s economic development. Built in the 1940s and designed by Licínio Cruz, it forms part of a protected urban block and is included in the Architectural Heritage Register. Within this sensitive context, the rehabilitation proposal seeks, above all, to reinforce the identity of the wider group of buildings of which it forms part.

An analysis of the building’s plan and the extraordinary size of its apartments reveals a high-end residential building, with a clear social stratification between served and service spaces — a distinction that has become obsolete in contemporary ways of living. As a result, both this building and others within the ensemble have gradually become vacant or undergone transformations enabling alternative uses, such as medical practices and offices. The proposal therefore seeks to restore the building to its original residential purpose, reconfiguring the apartment typologies and adapting them to contemporary ways of living.

On the main façade, the proposal calls for the meticulous conservation of its original architectural features, which give the building undeniable heritage value within the city, not only through their exceptional character but, above all, through their contribution to the identity of the block as a whole. To this end, the white limestone elements and the metalwork forming the balcony balustrades and some window openings are preserved and restored. A central aspect of the rehabilitation was also the recovery of original characteristics, particularly the application of reddish-toned marmorite to the main façade, using traditional techniques.