Massangana Station
CABO DE SANTO AGOSTINHO – PERNAMBUCO
Rehabilitation of the old Railway Station
The Old Engenho Massangana Station is located on the highway PE-009, in the Portuario de Suape Industrial Complex, in between the Cabo de Santo Agostinho and Ipojuca municipalities, 40km from the state capital, Recife.
The area of the Old Engenho Massangana station belongs to an area of historical significance as it reveals important economic and social aspects of the country dating back to the 19th century. On the mill site, old railway tracks can be found that connected Porto de Suape to Recife and a building that functioned as a station on this route.
The rehabilitation aims to preserve the memory of the place, which is linked to its railway character. Mapping the condition of existing structures was the starting point to defining which elements were to be conserved and renovated and what would be demolished. The project proposed the maintenance of the elements most representative of the complex and relevant to the history of the place: the shed, the loading and unloading platform and the rails. The preserve structure will be restored, while the damaged central slab will be demolished to make way for a central square.
The Project looked to conciliate contemporary language with the preservation of local identity, conserving the most significant elements of the complex. The intervention promoted the fluidity between the built environment and natural surroundings, recovering the relation to the nature around the building.
The replacement of the central slab by a green square is proposed. This seeks to restore a relationship to nature and connect the existing buildings. The design of the square and new metal roof structure are inspired by train tracks, with linear elements forming covered and uncovered sections that reference the railway memory.
The old railway station was transformed into a Social and Environmental Assets Center (CASA), with activities directed towards the local population, workers from Suape and tourists visiting the south coast of Pernambuco and Alagoas.
Exhibition spaces are proposed to promote the preservation of the region’s history, specifically on the old sugar cane mills and the more recent history of Porto de Suape. In addition to permanent exhibitions, spaces for temporary exhibitions are proposed.
The restaurant and cafeteria have two distinct focuses in the project: train professionals in the Restaurant-School and offer the public a regional culinary experience.
The area includes multipurpose spaces for craftsmen and spaces for events and fairs selling local products with the intention of supporting the local population.
CASA also houses the headquarters of the NGO Project Hippocampus, with a new structure to support the research and dissemination of seahorse conservation work. This structure will contain visiting areas, interactive exhibits and digital projections about marine species.
The use of environmental parameters in the design process and in the development of the project contributed to a significant reduction in energy consumption through the incorporation of passive design strategies to improve human comfort. Three environmental analyses were conducted: solar radiation in buildings, solar incidence on façades and cross ventilation.
From these analyses, the façade areas most affected by the solar incidence were identified. These findings informed the façade proposal, where panels are built of a different composition of materials depending of the solar filtering requirements of each façade.
