Homeless Shelter of Oporto

The building belonging to Association of Porto Shelter for the Homeless based on the diagnosis and preliminary programme, project sought to correct functional problems caused by inadequate interventions carried at over time, improve user comfort levels (seeking to adapt the possible use of available spaces) and solve the diagnosed pathologies and their causes.

The preliminary programme proposed the rehabilitation of this social equipment (a first line of aid to the homeless), searching most of all to improve reception/hosting conditions and increase its capacity (from 60 to 75 people).

The main functions and spatial distribution were maintained, however the project sought to improve overall conditions such as, interior space, natural light, ventilation and comfort. More specifically:
○ Light and ventilation in all bedrooms, allowing direct contact with garden/street;
○ Rationalization of beds per room; resizing to the minimum of 6 to a maximum number of 10 users (previously there had been dormitories with 17 users);
○ Introduction of new bathrooms adapted to the programme, intensity of use and to the building;
○ Appropriate infrastructures to the number of users, updated in order to optimize performance and comfort – hydraulic, electrical, gas, ventilation, heating installations as well as safety equipment;
○ Improvement of thermal and acoustic performance, insulation of roofs and constructive rehabilitation of existing windows;
Correction of previous interventions that diminished in any way the quality of the pre-existing building.

The film about the rehabilitation of “Homeless Shelter of Oporto” (Albergues Noturnos do Porto), a project from the Architect Nuno Valentim, produced by Building Pictures, invite us for a tour through the place guided by Laudolino Jesus, a former homeless, and to understand how Architecture can actually change people’s lives.

Laudolino, which is now an employee of “Associação dos Albergues Noturnos do Porto”, an association that welcomes homeless people from the city of Oporto and reminds how the building was before constructions - “it was a very dull place. It did not offer many conditions”.

Throughout the film, accompanied by the interview, we travel through space realizing that the modest rehabilitation of the building, makes a huge impact in the lives of hundreds of people who rely on this association.

Laudolino tells us "The whole space… was completely transformed." and that the works allowed people to return to their hygienic conditions, a space where they can now recover their energy and calm: "you can have a good shower and then a good night´s sleep in a new bed."

The film goes on showing the interior space and ends on the outside with Laudolino's words: "It feels like our mother’s house, doesn’t it? We go out, things can go wrong, but we come back and have a place… we have a nest where we can lick our wounds."

At the end of 2018, the building of “Homeless Shelter of Oporto” and its film were the finalists of the Living Places: Simon Architecture Prize, in the category Collective Places, an initiative of the Simon Group with the support of Foundation Mies van der Rohe.

Nuno Valentim Arquitectura