Troia Design Hotel
Troia is an amazing peninsula located 50 km South of Lisbon, between the mouth of the Sado River and the Atlantic Ocean, and across the river from the fishing and port city of Setubal. This fragile landscape and exceptional dune habitat was the setting for a large-scale tourism project at a time when new destinations like Acapulco, Las Palmas and Miami were being developed. Construction of the Troia Resort (formerly known as Torralta), began in the early 1970s and was abruptly halted in the aftermath of the 1974 revolution. Following the Zeitgeist, this vast tourism project aspired to become a true city of leisure, with facilities such as a marina, golf course, hippodrome, museum, gymnasiums, shopping mall, movie theatres and restaurants, besides apartments, hotels and condominiums.
The resort was located on the northern tip of the peninsula, and all that remained, besides a number of scattered facilities, was the unfinished concrete shell of a 14-storey atrium hotel, which had been designed by the late Brutalist master Conceição Silva. The new hotel project comprises the in-depth renovation and extension of this shell. This new complex includes a 5-star hotel with serviced apartments, a Spa, and a theatre with a mechanical stage. The concept aims to preserve the existing building following the original 1970s design principles, counterpoised by the new buildings, particularly the undulating apartment wing facing north, which creates a decisive contrast in both material and form with the dry and structural bareness of the early building. Besides the hotel and conference buildings, the casino and theatre complement the ensemble.
The latter, from a technical viewpoint, resembles a normal theatre auditorium, including a mid-size stage, under-stage, prep areas, dressing rooms, catwalk, etc, in addition to providing simultaneous banqueting facilities for 500 seats. The conference centre has twin canopies on opposite ends and a capacity of up to 900 people. The main ballroom can be subdivided into separate rooms with independent entrances and dedicated foyers. In addition, there are 12 multipurpose breakout rooms for up to 100 seats. All the catering services and technical support are provided through a main vertical shaft at the core of the complex, which is not visible to clients.
