Palácio Porto Côvo – Lusitania Headquarters

Bordering Rua de São Domingos à Lapa, the palace’s extensive façade conceals a group of buildings organised around a garden, which form a large-scale structure facing inwards. Hence, Palácio Porto Côvo singularly detaches itself from the surrounding urban context. Erected in the 18th century, it was the property of the Barons of Porto Côvo’s family until 1937, when the British embassy started working there. In 1995, Lusitânia Companhia de Seguros acquired the building and it became its headquarters. Besides the restoration, the project included the construction of two new buildings, allowing for a gallery/museum space, auditorium, and new offices. One of the buildings follows a strategy of fusion with the ground and unobtrusiveness, with different platforms and roof gardens, revealed only by a large surface of lioz stone. The other building, of well-defined volumetry, assumes a contemporary feel through large transparent glass planes.