Cultural and Educational Center, Quarteira


The set is arranged according to the desired aggregator character based upon the classic Greek models, where cultural and civic actions take place. Through the access routes that lead to the site, the square establishes a natural connection amongst the city and the park and throughout the different elevations in which the project is designed upon. This intrinsic relation between the square and its access routes provide and effortless emphasis of the overall gathering.


Each volume that hover the square possess a specific program and therefore have been designed with a particular configuration and position on the site that grants an individual identity to each space. The cafe-concert, located on the arrival, is the smallest space with an overbearing terrace towards the square; the main events room is receded, becoming the backdrop for the entire ensemble and the lead character of this project due to its magnitude; and the black-box (experimental room) is an adjoining space of the main events room. The school of dance of the music conservatory of Loulé is also part of this cultural and educational centre, being considered from a typological point of view as a program that develops alongside the urban site in order to be properly contemplated.


The project’s main character is rooted into its materiality and volume. These pure volumes that verge the park and the sky are defined as a substantial mass with carefully positioned openings that allow rigorous and creased shadows to be created into the landscape. The main material used in this project was lime plaster, which is a local and versatile coating that reinforces the notion of unit to the different clusters.

Marking each entrance there are several concrete porches as part of the design of the square, providing meaning and a sense of space when placed against the lime plaster elevations that compose the scenery. This is a setting that evokes the condition of scarcity in which the construction of culture of this place has been built over the years.



Pedro Matos Gameiro (Matos Gameiro Arquitectos), João Favila Menezes (atelier Bugio)

landscape architecture

Filipa Menezes

design team

Miguel Feijóo, Teresa Mateus

project year



rendering LAMB3D