Former Louvre Hotel

Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio

Former Louvre Hotel 

Diana Barros Arquitectura

ENGINEERING
Ncrep – Consultoria Em Reabilitação Do Edificado E Património

ACOUSTIC DESIGN
Daj Engenheiros Associados

MAIN ARCHITECT
Diana Barros

COLLABORATION
Marcos Maia; Joana Fernandes

MANUFACTURERS
Aleluia Cerâmicas, Kerakoll, Marazzi, O/m Light - Osvaldo Matos, Valadares, Zangra

BUILDER
Fl Construções

THERMAL ENGINEERING
Daj Engenheiros Associados

INSPECTION
Add Building

FLUIDS ENGINEERING
Daj Engenheiros Associados

AREA
10172 Ft²

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
Porto, Portugal

CATEGORY
Housing

Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio

Text description provided by architect.

Built in the mid-19th century to be the house of a Douro nobleman, the building's fame was consolidated over time by the meticulous decoration of the woodwork, framed within the compositional rigor of the 19th-century facade, and the incredible staircase in the core of the building, which extends to the top floor and is topped off by the central skylight.

Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio

It has embodied various uses over time, from a hotel prepared to receive emperors, to the headquarters of a resistance movement against the Estado Novo, from the home of the Oporto Film Club to a driving school.

The proposed program involved making it embody another: collective housing with commerce and services on the ground floor.

Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio

Perhaps more pedestrian, but no less daring, given the dominance of tourist use in the area.

The project tried to respect the incredible polyvalence of a building that was once almost everything, keeping the organization of the common areas and accesses, the careful decorative work that survived in the stonework of the facade and in the interior and exterior carpentry, and the constructive system used in the slabs and central staircase.

Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio

The tension between the scale of the original building and the domestic uses now introduced is accentuated by the elemental design of the new elements, emphasizing the textures and colors of the materials.

The fundamental aim was to create a robust and coherent whole, functionally integrated but adaptable and capable of making the natural and human resources invested in its rehabilitation profitable, prolonging its useful life and preparing it for another century and a half of use and as many other incarnations.

Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Former Louvre Hotel
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Former Louvre Hotel
South facade
Former Louvre Hotel
East facade


Former Louvre Hotel
First floor plan
Former Louvre Hotel
Second floor plan
Former Louvre Hotel
Third floor plan
Former Louvre Hotel
Roof plan
Former Louvre Hotel
Site plan