This project started more as a logistics exercise than an architecture one. The site had already a functioning restaurant since 1994 which, regarding its age, lack of modern infrastructures and inability to expand, needed to be replaced for a new one. The client wanted a restaurant with big capacity, an image related to the Portuguese gastronomic identity and most importantly that it would be built while the old one was still working. The plan was simple though: the old restaurant was placed in the front of the L shaped plot with the parking space in the back; so the new restaurant was created by switching positions with the old one. The new construction was built nearly touching the existing building while it was still working, to minimize the losses on the pending investment, and was only demolished 2 months before the construction was finished so the new parking space and green space could be set. Following this layout, the restaurant should have an expressive front elevation that would be identifiable from a distance, and most of all, should be very functional as it should be capable of hosting 200+ people at the same time. The building was divided in 2 floors, normal lunch and dinner on the ground level and special events on the top floor. Vertically it was also divided into technical areas on the left (kitchens and storage) and right (office and storage) leaving the middle to the public. So it arises majestically in a succession of volumes sustained by a straight-line architecture. Formally, it’s a single object, but it shows several tones created by the drawing’s definition from the inside to the outside.

The parking space appears in front of the building centered by a long wooden path made of railroad beams darkened by petroleum used in the old days to preserve the wood, leading to the main entrance in black schist over a wall of thick granite blocks which welcomes people in a mystical kind of way giving them the massiveness of the northern Portugal traditional stone architecture which is so intimately connected to the Portuguese gastronomy. This 2 story high hall precedes the entrance to the main room which is developed around an inner garden which sections the 2 floors. This solution means that the rooms can be selectively divided into individual spaces regarding the noise spread, it creates a comfortable atmosphere as it connects visually with nature, and structurally, it means it could be totally avoided having pillars in the middle of the tables. It also makes rainwater from the cover converge to this center. The interior is punctuated by a wooden floor and granite blocks on the walls taking people to a feeling of the traditional Minho region architecture.