Chaves Hotel Casino is a structure that is not reducible to the gambling área but to other facilities that complement each other, forming a whole, where the living and fun fuse. Open spaces to the city so that the city can take advantage of them.It is situated in one of the entrances of the city of Chaves, as if it were a front door. The land is worth by its location, shape and position on the city. Implemented at the highest point of the land, it develops at various levels, some buried and opening in different directions, assuming themselves as walls, defining spaces and containment of land.
Photography by © Sérgio Ferreira, Profoto
The set is molded to the terrain merging with the landscape, appearing and disappearing. The different dimensions of the plot define different arch centerings.The Hotel and the Casino had to be designed and implemented to become a valence between urban use and the distancing from the place, a reference for those who enter in the city, and for those who are looking from it. It was important to maintain a dialogue with the city.
Photography by © Sérgio Ferreira, Profoto
The basic idea in this project is the basic physical boundaries created by geometric lines, turned into walls that define spaces with different valences and ways of being, but that can be experienced sequentially.
The stone, the zinc and the concrete are the material support used as the integration solution in the environment and the chromatic value of the landscape.
Photography by © Sérgio Ferreira, Profoto
Project Info:
Architects: RDLM Arquitectos Associados
Location: Chaves, Portugal
Project Year: 2008
Project Area: 31312 sqm
Client: Solverde
Contractor: Mota – Engil
Lighting designer: Raul Serafim
Structure Engineering: Vítor Sousa
Landscape: Luís Aresta e Marisa Graça
Photographs: Sérgio Ferreira, Profoto
Electrical Engineering: Barreto Costa
Mechanical Engineering: David Garrido
Infrastructure Engineering: Heitor Maia
Architecture Collaborators: Rui Lacerda, Diogo Lacerda, Mário Manaia, Carlos Moreira, João Castelo, João Rodrigues, José Costa Pereira, Rui Zenha, Fernando Marques de Oliveira
Sophie Tremblay is a Montreal-based architectural editor and designer with a focus on sustainable urban development. A McGill University architecture graduate, she began her career in adaptive reuse, blending modern design with historical structures. As a Project Editor at Arch2O, she curates stories that connect traditional practice with forward-thinking design. Her writing highlights architecture's role in community engagement and social impact. Sophie has contributed to Canadian Architect and continues to collaborate with local studios on community-driven projects throughout Quebec, maintaining a hands-on approach that informs both her design sensibility and editorial perspective.