Pombal Castle visitor centre offers a peek through a historic stone wall
Comoco Architects has added a third new structure to the grounds of the medieval Pombal Castle in Portugal – a limestone-clad visitor centre that doubles as a viewing platform (+ slideshow).
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
The single-storey structure with a staircase forming one of its facades is the second commission that Coimbra-based Comoco Architects has had for the Romanesque fortress, following a weathered steel cafe and a wooden gazebo completed on the castle hill in 2012.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
This latest project is located within the castle's perimeter. It runs alongside one of the historic stone walls, offering information for visitors and a new viewpoint through the 16th-century Manuelino-style windows.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
"Our design strategy for Pombal Castle's visitor centre pursues a deliberate ambiguous condition between a topographical feature, a limestone monolith, and an amiable wanderer, a stranger in search of a welcoming new home to rest," explained architects Luís Miguel Correia, Nelson Mota and Susana Constantino.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
"The main challenge of the commission was the definition of a design strategy that could live up to the richness of the castle's multi-layered history without being either ostensive or subdued, i.e. finding its voice among the very many built artefacts that populate that space."
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_12.jpg)
The brief was to create a guest reception, a storage area and a room to screen a virtual history of the castle. The architects chose to expand this programme to include the new observation deck.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
"We thought of the new volume as an object that should embody some ambiguity," said the team, which has previously designed a visitor centre for another Portuguese castle.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_13.jpg)
"On the one hand it should seamlessly mingle with the exiting features in the castle's ward, and on the other hand it should become a conspicuous new addition to the existing built structures. In other words, we sought for a creative dialogue with the situation as found," they added.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
The staircase ascends slowly up the building's south-east elevation, offering access to the entire rooftop. The space is surrounded by a thin metal railing that is barely noticeable.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
A triangular recess in the facade houses the entrance. Inside, the projection room sits on the right-hand side and the storage area is tucked under the stairs.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
The project also included updating an existing Corten-steel viewing deck and exhibition gallery. The architects reworked the internal layout, changed the railings and added new furniture.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
The final intervention was to upgrade the surrounding landscaping by repairing the limestone cobbled pathways.
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_468_14.jpg)
Photography is by Fernando Guerra.
Project credits:
Client: Pombal Municipality
Architecture: Luís Miguel Correia, Nelson Mota, Susana Constantino
Structural Engineering, Hydraulic and Acoustics: ABL – Gabinete de Projectos Lda
Electric devices: Luís Ribeiro
Mechanical devices: João Gonçalves Madeira da Silva
Contractors: ALVAPE, Construção e Obras Públicas, Lda
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_2.gif)
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_1.gif)
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_4.gif)
![Pombal Castle's Visitor Centre by Comoco Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/11/Pombal-Castles-Visitor-Centre-by-COMOCO_dezeen_5.gif)