TUA VALLEY INTERPRETIVE CENTRE

ARCHITECT /DESIGNER

Rosmaninho+Azevedo – Arquitectos

LOCATION

Foz Tua, Portugal

DATE

2018

DESCRIPTION

In 1880, the inauguration of the Douro railway line was an alternative to transport river. The travellers, but more particularly the Port wines and the necessary products to produce them, benefited from the two hundred kilometers of railway lines that connect the border Spanish and the city of Porto. Between 1988 and 1990, the last 28 kilometers of this railroad and various sections of tributary lines (including that of the Tua), considered insufficiently profitable, were closed. In 2008, the operation of the Tua line ceased completely. A construction of a dam on the River Tua, approved the following year and with the need for flooding 16 kilometers of railroad, made it definitely impossible to reuse the service on this line.

The creation of the Vale do Tua Interpretation Center (CIVT) was part of the compensation program associated with the construction of the Foz Tua dam. Its purpose is to allow visitors to know the history of the valley. The CIVT is installed in two abandoned hangars of the station Tua railway. The intention was to give each hangar a unique identity. The program part dedicated to temporary exhibitions and welcome space, now resides in a hangar, which kept its wood cladding, a centenary building restored “board by board” and equipped with the necessary interior insulation. Separated by rails, the second part of the CIVT was renewed in a more comprehensive way, according to an ambitious program. The coating of zinc in the building reconciles two almost antagonistic choices for us: the application of a material to blend in with the industrial character of this enclosure, while expressing a noble dimension in line with the Douro’s status as a World Heritage Site of the UNESCO. Zinc corrugated panels were installed on the roof and facades, reinterpreting the wooden hangar.

The building area was enlarged according to the limits imposed by train circulation, in order to house the whole program. The elimination of the lateral platforms allowed the construction of a thick wall that integrates an airbox. Positioned behind the zinc coating, produces natural ventilation, minimizing the use of air conditioning equipment. This transversal extension created more space for the permanent exhibition areas installed in the first floor of the second hangar. On the upper floor are installed the educational service and the work spaces in a mezzanine. With a substantial economy of means, zinc skin demonstrates that it is possible to completely change a building without disfiguring it, changing its use without betraying the identity of a place.

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