The project presented the challenge of addressing the great complexity of
the public space and the various traffic and urban problems of the historic
centre of Castelo Branco. The aim of the Centre, furthermore, was to turn
the old town into a cultural nerve centre for the city.

The Arts Centre floats on two piles over the plaza, like a bridge, freeing up
at its base a covered ice-skating rink, and giving continuity to this large
public space, to the plaza and to the adjacent park. It forms another part
of the plaza, drawing on the Portuguese tradition of skating and the cold
continental climate.

“The climate is extreme. I’m very pleased with the ice rink at the base of
the building, it’s a playful relationship with the climate and the plaza. The
building is compact and well insulated, a bubble of sheltered activity, but
still related to the exterior,” added Josep Lluis Mateo.

With its wooden façade, in contrast to the zinc-clad reinforced concrete of
the suspended part, it is a bubble of activity, a roof and a floor that floats
above the site, relating the urban sequence, the plaza and the park.