Alverca: how to diversify and bring new life to a neglected space?
Developed by Nhood Portugal, the transformation project for Galeria Comercial de Alverca aims to revitalise a real estate complex that has been neglected for over three decades in Alverca. With an investment of around 32 million euros by co-owners Ceetrus and Auchan, this intervention will expand and diversify the original functionalities of the space, adapting it to the current context and integrating it into the local urban ecosystem.
The aim is to create a new centre in Alverca with more offer, more people and more sustainability. To this end, the project was developed from the start in coordination with Vila Franca de Xira Municipality to respond to local needs and the environmental and accessibility strategy of the municipality.
Three decades later, a new use: from offices to retail and services
With the building’s use constrained from the outset, it became clear from the start that there was a need to re-evaluate and reconsider possible uses for the building. Administrative regularisation opened the way for a significant transformation and made it possible to overcome the following initial limitations:
- Only part of the third floor and the lower floors were in use;
- The rest of the third floor and all the upper floors, including the tower, were unoccupied;
- The office use originally intended for the tower (more than three decades ago) proved to be unfeasible due to changes in the market since its construction in 1994;
- The current requirements of the sector demand technical, spatial and location features that were not in line with those of the building.
Thus, the strategy adopted involved diversifying the use of the space and moving away from offices. A new strategy was sought for the vacant spaces based on:
- Expansion of commercial and service use, following a viable plan in terms of the investment required and market demand;
- Implementing a rental housing project in the tower;
- Employ the uses provided for in the ‘Espaços de Multiusos’ (Multipurpose Spaces) category of the Alverca PDM, which the building integrates.
- This approach represented not only a significant advance in the use of the space, but also an important step in the dynamization and enhancement of Alverca’s urban fabric.
A new configuration: more offer and more outdoor space
The revitalisation of the building also involves demolition work, the introduction of new services and a commitment to green spaces and sustainability. An overview:
- More outdoor spaces: Part of a currently unoccupied floor between the retail areas and the towers will be demolished to create two outdoor patios.
- More services: the space resulting from the demolition will house three new service units, including a Citizen’s Shop, supported by a café with a terrace in the central atrium.
- More community: courtyards and garden areas will help minimise the carbon impact and can be used for educational initiatives involving residents.
- More circularity: urban vegetable gardens will also be created in order to reduce the number of intermediaries and favour savings in terms of transport, packaging and storage.
This action plan reflects a commitment to revitalising the asset, promoting not only a significant improvement in local infrastructure, but also boosting sustainability and community involvement.
A new configuration: more offer and more outdoor space
The revitalisation of the building also involves demolition work, the introduction of new services and a commitment to green spaces and sustainability. An overview:
- More outdoor spaces: Part of a currently unoccupied floor between the retail areas and the towers will be demolished to create two outdoor patios.
- More services: the space resulting from the demolition will house three new service units, including a Citizen’s Shop, supported by a café with a terrace in the central atrium.
- More community: courtyards and garden areas will help minimise the carbon impact and can be used for educational initiatives involving residents.
- More circularity: urban vegetable gardens will also be created in order to reduce the number of intermediaries and favour savings in terms of transport, packaging and storage.
This action plan reflects a commitment to revitalising the asset, promoting not only a significant improvement in local infrastructure, but also boosting sustainability and community involvement.
Articulation with the municipality: partnerships with a future
In recent years, the Vila Franca de Xira municipality has been implementing an urban regeneration strategy that is in line with the opportunities and challenges currently facing European regions.
In line with the objectives of cohesion policy for the 2021-2027 period, it has focused on increasingly “greener” projects, with no carbon emissions, strong investment in renewable energies and adaptation to climate change, taking advantage of innovation and the digitalisation of the economy and society.
In co-operation with local players such as Nhood SA, based on partnerships aimed at transforming territories, such as the “ReGreeneration – The next generation of green, resilient and socially inclusive smart cities” project, co-funded by Horizon Europe (HORIZON-MISS-2023-CLIMA-CITIES-01-01) and which includes 27 European partners, the municipality has managed to attract robust investments with a direct societal impact. In the 2024-2028 horizon, it has planned more than 100 million euros of investment in its territory.
One of the four Leading Cities (together with Paris, Barcelona and Bucharest) of the ReGreeneration Project, and one of the thirteen Leading Cities (including Madrid, Leuven, Prato, Helsinki, Athens, among others) of the “Urban Greening ans re-naturing for urban regeneration, resilience and climate neutrality” Cluster – which implements the two major European Union Missions: the Climate Change Adaptation Mission and the Smart and Impact Neutral Cities Mission – Alverca do Ribatejo will benefit, within the framework of the urban transformation that is currently taking place, from Innovation Action Project status materialising innovation and research activities, peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, capacity building and dissemination.
A territory of geographical contrasts, strategically positioned at the northern entrance to Lisbon, with excellent road and rail accessibility, just a few minutes from the country’s capital and its airport, with 22 kilometres of riverfront on one of Europe’s largest estuaries, Vila Franca de Xira is currently one of the European municipalities seeking to implement the European Urban Agenda using integrated and participatory approaches with a positive impact on citizens’ lives.
About the Project: With construction started in the summer of 2023, completion of the first phase of Galeria Comercial Auchand de Alverca is scheduled for June 2024. This first phase covers the entire retail area, leaving the conversion of the towers for the second phase, which will begin in 2025.
BY: Hugo Vieira, Development Project Manager (Nhood Portugal) and Júlia Reis (Vila Franca de Xira Municipality)
