Lisbon. Promontorio completes a monolithic embassy

Located in Lisbon’s neighbourhood of Restelo, the new Embassy of Egypt by Promontorio is essentially a monolith composed by three thick slabs combined with an interweaving mass of patterned walls with bas-reliefs discreetly evocative of ancient Egyptian geometric motifs.  Following the classical post-and-lintel system, these walls are interrupted at specific positions to form windows, while on the upper floor each corner forms a balcony by receding and revolving from one angle to the next. The facade is in precast concrete panels of a deep anthracite pigment that emphasizes the monumental gravitas of the ensemble, at the same time contrasting with the lightness of the window frames, which are handcrafted in delicate bronze coated stainless steel profiles.

Inside, care has been taken to choose materials that weather gently and grow patina over the years, instead of becoming rundown.  With that in mind, the public areas are in large white stone slabs with wainscots and panelling in painted wood.  Finally, the centrepiece of the public area, an atrium with a kind of Babelesque stairway, that, like an Appian stage, is clad in a veiled solid wood railing that migrates to the walls to become an all-encompassing panel.  This central atrium is crowned by a skylight coffin which is filtered by an Islamic patterned louver that generates a kaleidoscopic light, casting a revolving shadow across the day.