Valdemar Coutinho Arquitectos has completed a sports centre in Portugal, featuring angular concrete surfaces that funnel daylight into its public foyer.
Locally based studio Valdemar Coutinho Arquitectos designed the building as a sports facility for use by the local Pedro Barbosa School, as well as by the community of Viana do Castelo.

Named the Atlantic Pavilion, the sports facility is located on a street facing the waterfront called Avenida do Atlântico, in the municipality of Viana do Castelo.
A restricted budget and the need for easy maintenance going forward informed the design of the building, which is guided by the principles of Brutalism in its use of concrete both externally and internally.

Working within the predefined constraints, the architects aimed to develop a proposal that  offered "an appealing dynamic and humanised image," they said. The building occupies almost the full extent of its compact site. It contains a 650-square-metre sports hall that adjoins a perpendicular block housing four dedicated changing areas ? two for players and a further two for officials.

At the corner where the two blocks connect, an entrance pavilion provides a distinctive presence within the heterogenous streetscape.
The entrance structure features glazed doors positioned beneath a cantilevered upper storey that incorporates clerestory windows framed by angled concrete surfaces.

Recessed windows are protected from direct sunlight but ensure plenty of natural illu...