VTS Tower in the Port of Lisbon

Characterized by its inclined façade, the Port of Lisbon’s Traffic Coordination and Control Centre building develops over 9 floors in a roughly rectangular plan with reinforced concrete exterior and interior walls up to the last 3 floors, from then on displaying a glazed exterior façade supported by reinforced concrete pillars or the cantilevers of the slabs.
The façade facing the river moves forward 9 metres from the base. The structural design is based on developing the structure around the core of the stairwell and lifts in order to keep the resultant gravitational loads centred on that core. The permanent load of the cantilevered structure facing the river is thus compensated by the permanent load of the rear cantilevered area, which is not supported on piles. The structure’s exposure to maritime conditions made it necessary to adopt construction and detailing solutions that met the appropriate durability requirements.