Located on the Atlantic Coast, Lisbon is the largest city and capital of Portugal. This alpha city is considered one of the most important financial and economic centers in the Iberian Peninsula. Lisbon is rich in history and culture and it has always celebrated their most precious resource, its beautiful coastline. As this region is the wealthiest and well above European Union's GDP average it has an extensive array of modern and luxurious projects unfolding.

The Altis Belém Hotel & Spa is located in Belém, Lisbon adjacent to the Bom Sucesso Dock and the Belem Cultural Centre. This five star hotel celebrates not only its facilities and interior spaces but also the adjacent open spaces and its connection to the water. Designed by RISCO Architects, the building is the result of two intersecting perpendicular volumes. The natural material selection allows it to blend with its surrounding and not obstruct from the water or its adjacent buildings. The building allows the natural light to permeate and penetrate the volumes making it feel open, ample and comfortable. The long, clean lines allows opportunities to integrate vistas to the water and bring the exterior inside.

The hotel has a very unique element that allows it to screen the sunlight from the 50 rooms. The exterior facade acts as a screen permitting views but deflecting direct heat from the rays. When appropriate, those screens retract and allow a sun pool to enter the extensive decks making the rooms ample and providing them its own uninterrupted view of the water and Lisboa landscape. Expect the hotel to be booked and busy during the next upcoming months and if you are one of the few to enjoy those great balconies in the rooms, be sure to come back and let us know how you enjoyed your time there.

RISCO is organized into teams with a variable geometry, because they believe in diversity as a source of knowledge and in having multiple forms of know-how take part in each project. They don’t always do the same thing in the same way. Critical reflection about what they do is what makes them move forward. Perhaps that coastline does impact behavioral and business practices after all!

Discover Altis Belem Hotel &Spa through the pictures that follow //

ARCHITECTS: RISCO (Manuel Salgado, Joao Almeida eTomás Salgado)
ARCHITECTURE TEAM: João Almeida (site architect), Cristina Picoto, Catarina Pires e GianLuca Bono.
INTERIOR DESIGN: FSSMGN (Fernando Sanchez Salvador e Margarida Grácio Nunes)
INTERIOR TEAM: Ana Tsukagoshi, Claire Campens, Eliana Candeias Alves, Miguel Ribeiro Carvalho, Nelson Magro, Sofia Torres Pereira
MODELS: Rita Botelho, Tiago Nunes
GRAPHIC PROJECT: RMAC Design
PANELS ILUSTRATION: Alexandre Mendes, Ana Cunha, João Pina, Jorge Oliveira e Pedro Duarte
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Mariana Almeida
ACCOUNT MANAGER: Sílvia Lopes
HISTORY OF ART CONSULTANT: Anísio Salazar D’Eça Costa Franco
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: NPK
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: STA
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING: LMSA
HVAC ENGINEERING: Dimensionar, Consultoria e Projecto, Lda.
HYDRAULICS: Enpesin
ACOUSTICS CONSULTANT: Certiprojecto
FIRE PROTECTION: LMSA
LOCATION: Doca do Bom Sucesso, Belém, Lisbon
PROMOTER: APL (Lisbon Harbor Authority)
CLIENT: Altis,SA
DATE: 1999-2009
AREA: 9 086,4 m2
COST: 12 000 000 €
PHOTOS: FG + SG // Fotografia de Arquitectura