Horta Harbour Conversion / RISCO Architects

Architects: RISCO Architects
Area: 5,623 m²
Year: 2012
Photography: João Morgado
Architecture and Urban Design: Manuel Salgdo, Carlos Cruz, Tomás Salgado e Pedro Pinto
Client: APTO – Administração dos Portos do Triângulo Ocidental, S.A.
City: Horta
Country: Portugal

Horta Harbour Conversion, a port reorganization project designed by RISCO architects in Horta, addresses the need for improved ferry services, reduced port congestion, and better conditions for the fishing fleet. This project, completed in 2012, introduces a new harbour basin for passenger traffic, a maritime terminal, and new public areas, significantly enhancing the port’s functionality and integration with the city.

Horta Harbour Conversion / RISCO Architects

The purchase of a new inter-island ferry, port congestion, and inadequate conditions for the fishing fleet necessitated rethinking the Port of Horta’s organization.

The solution was to create a new harbour basin for passenger traffic on the northern side of the city, with a new maritime terminal. This intervention freed up the southern basin for fishing boats and recreational craft and created new public areas linked to the port.

Close collaboration with the engineering team facilitated the creation of the new protection pier directly south of the Conceição riverbank at the northern end of the waterfront.

The geometry of the works was controlled, marking the landscape in line with the coastline and city scale, and connecting to the waterfront on an embankment, adding a new phase to the coastline design.

The new station, designed as a long volume or canopy below the waterfront’s sidewalk level, offers passenger services and functional tracts connecting the urban and port areas. The scale and language match the landscape and infrastructure.

The new port unit’s connection to the waterfront allowed for redesigning the court’s roundabout, broadening it, and creating a large planted area extending toward the new port’s embankment.