The first step of the expansion works of the Library of the Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon, are completed. This building, designed by the architect Ana Paula Pinheiro, was intended to be a green building, an idea that came true in 2012, but only now sees the light of day, more precisely when it is inaugurated at the end of 2022. "I've been trying to do green facades and green roofs since 1996. Then something always happened. Now I am very happy and proud", said Ana Paula Pinheiro in an interview to PÚBLICO, whose doctoral thesis is precisely about the work she has been developing in the buildings of the Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon (FDUL).
The library's expansion project unfolds in three floors, but for now the works are centered in the ground floor, where the reading rooms are located and which now have a privileged landscape thanks to the existence of a glass wall that leads to the patios and allows to see the Mediterranean plants that were planted there by the landscape architect Susana Morais, who explains that local species were privileged because they are resistant and need little water. In addition, the garden will be irrigated with the help of a rainwater harvesting system that works with a drip irrigation system. There is also a reservoir and a pumping station to supply the irrigation, and only when it is empty will the water from the mains be used.
The roof is covered with a green cover, "a permeable plant material, which allows the creation of water retention areas in case of torrents," explained architect Ana Paula Pinheiro from the RBD.APP Arquitetos studio. In the building's descriptive memory it also says, "these roofs help decrease the urban air temperature by combating the heat island effect" and improve air quality "by capturing dust and dirt."
Ana Paula Pinheiro explains "besides the bet on sustainability I like to transmit in all the spaces that I create three things : simplicity, calm and comfort."
From the rainwater collection system to the installation of a thermal floor and the management of air quality, there are several bets to ensure a better performance of the building in Alameda da Universidade, Lisbon.
Source: Público newspapper
