As the years have gone by, Bom Sucesso Market began showing signs of natural wear and it became outmoded for the 21st century standards. The restoration of the building involved not only the rehabilitation of its main structures, but also changing the concept of the Market. However, the soul of this characteristic place, that was classified as a Public Interest Building and as a Public Interest Monument by the Ministry of Culture and IGESPAR, in 2011, has been preserved.
The architectural restoration, made by FA.A Arquitetos, didn’t alter the main structure of the building. However, two new assets were added: a four star Hotel and an office area that co-exists with the stalls, the stores and the restaurants.
The whole project includes an 85-room hotel, a new office area, a commercial area with 44 stalls, 23 stores and a Fresh Produce Market, with a total area of around 34,440 square feet, (3,200 square meters).
The concept of the Market was adapted so as to identify with an ever-growing bustling city that keeps setting trends. Today you may not hear the market cries, but there are still stalls and stores where you can find a variety of products and services and that stimulate unique encounters and symbiosis.
This large bright place invites people, places and projects to interact.
Tradition
The building was designed in 1949 by the architects Fortunato Leal, Cunha Leal and Morais Soares, at Oporto City Council’s request, following the construction of the Matosinhos Market, in a neighboring council. The Market – with an area of about the 107,600 square feet (10,000 square meters) – opened to the public in 1952 with several stores and fresh products stalls.
The building is a fine example of modern architecture. The ceiling is dome-shaped, framed with gracifer cement in all its extension and supported by sectioned terraces. The interior is lit by the large glass skylights. It was projected so as to take advantage of the natural slope of the land, and it has three floors encircled by detached stores.
For many years the Bom Sucesso Market played an important role in the western part of the city, always with great commercial hustle and bustle where voices, smells, flavors and agitation mixed together. However, as new shopping areas sprang up in this area and the social habits of the people from Oporto changed, the need to shop in Bom Sucesso Market began to gradually fade.
And with those changes came the need to rehabilitate the Market, and put the past to the service of modern needs, while keeping the essence of the once very popular and lively Market.