Pavilhão Atlântico
The idea to build Pavilhão Atlântico goes all the way back to the first discussions held on the Lisbon EXPO’98 Urban Planning exercise.
In contrast with other major European cities, Lisbon did not feature a multipurpose venue capable of hosting large-size shows, congresses, and sports events.

All existing facilities, in the capital or elsewhere in the country, either had limited seating capacity – say up to 4,000 seated – or could only be adapted to unconventional events, such as high-level indoor sports tournaments, with great difficulty.
In addition, most venues lacked the kind of technological features required by modern TV coverage or by a major music or theatre production.
There was definitely a gap for a venue of a capacity of over 4,000 spectators, standing between venues such as Lisbon’s Coliseu or a number of arenas built for other purposes that could be adapted for the effect, and large-size open-air sports stadiums.
Owing to that fact, the country was being bypassed by the organisers of indoor sports tournaments and events, and it became a problem to organise major concerts during the cold and rainy season.
Hence the decision to build a facility of this nature integrated within the urban planning priorities of the former EXPO’98 area.
The selected location had the advantage of not only serving the population of Portugal’s major metropolitan conglomeration, but also the country as a whole, given its proximity to Oriente Station (a multimodal public transport hub interconnecting all major public transport systems) and to major highways and roadways connections

 An innovative project
Portuguese architect Regino Cruz was selected to design the project plans in association with a leading international consultant: Skidmore, Owings & Merril (SOM).
Regino Cruz is the designer of a variety of projects in Brazil and Portugal, namely a number of state and office buildings in and around Lisbon. In turn,
SOM has been awarded major international tenders such as the designs for the Olympic Stadiums of Manchester and Berlin, in addition to a host of other designs for major sports arenas in the USA (Portland, Philadelphia, Oakland, and Minneapolis, for instance).
They also co-produced the project plans for the Vasco da Gama Tower, located right at the northern end of the grounds of Parque das Nações.
The configuration of Pavilhão Atlântico brings to mind the design of a spaceship… or you may say that its shape resembles the shape of the horseshoe crab, a species which emerged 200 million years ago.
A mix of marine animal and spaceship, the selected shape required a structure capable of supporting it both physically and symbolically.
Hence the idea of setting up a frame of wooden struts to sustain the roof, laid out in a way that evokes the ribs and structure of the innards of a sixteenth-century caravel.
In a world exposition celebrating the oceans and the Portuguese maritime exploits, wood, rather than steel or concrete, was selected as the ideal raw material.

Once the shape was selected, the building was positioned in such a way that its southern façade takes advantage of full sun exposure to increase energy efficiency during the cold season while preventing direct sun exposure through clever use of available shading during the summer months.
That way, air conditioning costs could be significantly reduced.
The top of the building features a number of vents for the purpose too, thereby facilitating natural ventilation of the interior and cooling the indoor atmosphere between events.
The interiors were designed with three major objectives in mind: 1) minimising the visual impact of a massive construction such as this; 2) rationalising energy costs, where feasible; and 3) simplifying public ingress and exit from the arena.
For the purpose, the floors of the arena were buried 6.4 m below ground level.
Despite the building’s generous indoor height, it still conveys the image of a building built to human scale.
Spectator ingress and exit are easily accomplished by means of a small set of steps circling the entire building.
Thermal inertia has been enhanced since the extension of the exterior contact surface has been reduced.

The building’s exterior designs and the construction materials employed equally contribute towards the achievement of optimal energy and environmental efficiency. The roof is covered with zinc plates. Several layers of insulating material (insulator mineral wool) and free space lie underneath the plated cover to achieve efficient air circulation and refrigeration.
The glass windows of the façades are protected with flaps. The building’s size was planned in such a way as to get the sun to only shine directly on the building during winter and only in the area around the arena.
The system of blinds covering the massive skylights of the cover is electrically actioned and fully mobile. This was an ingenious way of taking advantage of natural illumination and thereby enhancing visual comfort while reducing the cost of artificial illumination.

 Energy efficiency, enhanced comfort
The terms of reference of the project planning selection tender put clear emphasis on the intention to “(…) design a building that is energy-efficient, taking into consideration that one of the main running expenses will be energy costs”.
The Overall Energy and Environmental Efficiency Strategy guiding the entire EXPO’98 urban planning project needed to be taken into consideration as well, as that strategy was being implemented under an agreement signed by Parque EXPO’98 SA, the Energy Conservation Centre, and the European Commission, under coordination by Professor Dr. Oliveira Fernandes.
The building’s design optimises energy-efficient usage and thereby ensured the success of its application for Joule/Thermie and SIURE funding, whereby non-recoverable grants to the value of 898,000 Euros were obtained.

Luís Malheiro da Silva – Projecto e Gestão de Instalações Especiais was responsible for the air conditioning plans and all energy efficiency issues.
In addition, Pavilhão Atlântico’s high great comfort and low energy consumption rely on the manner in which conditioned air is blown into spectator areas – air is blown into the arena at low speed and at a temperature very much on par with room temperature through vents installed behind the seats, thereby optimising temperature conditions in spectator areas.
The option to use air suctioned from the exterior at a rate of 100% promotes a high standard of environmental quality: contaminants and particles in suspension are dragged to the exterior, thereby diluting smells and odours.
In summer, water from the Tagus River is used to cool the air prior to insufflation. In winter, thermal energy from exhaust air (which is warmer) is recovered by heat recovering units.
Thanks to those features, Pavilhão Atlântico’s performance in terms of energy efficiency is very good. The use of natural ventilation and illumination and controlled artificial illumination, together with the type of building design and the selected exterior finishes, all concur to enhance the achievement of this goal.
It’s been estimated that Pavilhão Atlântico manages to achieve energy savings of up to 36% in winter and 63% in summer in comparison with a building of similar size lacking the above mentioned strategies and feature.

 Rational use of energy

A variety of measures were put in place to ensure maximal comfort inside Pavilhão Atlântico with minimal energy use, as follows:
• The building was partly buried below ground level to take advantage of structural thermal inertia;
• The exterior surrounds were studied with the objective of ascertaining heat transfer rates and levels of contaminant emissions inside the arena;
• Natural ventilation and illumination were used and are controlled between events and rehearsals;
• The building employs controlled artificial illumination;
• Water from the Tagus River is used to cool air prior to insufflation at the River’s water treatment stations;
• Air is insufflated into the interior behind spectator seats in order to concentrate the impact of air conditioning on spectator areas;
• Fresh air is insufflated at a rate of 100%, with energy recovery;
• The cold water supply installation and the boilers were replaced and connected to the hot and cold water supply network serving the entire EXPO’98 Intervention Zone;
• Water is pumped into air conditioning circuits at variable flow rates;
• A centralised management system to coordinate the venue’s overall energy efficiency performance is in place.

 Oceans and Utopias
While the Lisbon 1998 Exposition was running, the building was called the Pavilion of Utopia and it was hosting a show titled “Oceans and Utopias”.
While other major pavilions of the Exposition (such as the Pavilion of Portugal, the Pavilion of Sea Knowledge, or the Pavilion of the Future) approached the “oceans” theme from an historical, scientific, or artistic perspective, this particular Pavilion approached that theme from the perspective of magic, dreams, and symbolic content.
During the 132 days of the Exposition, the Pavilion of Utopia provided a unique feature that was open to the imagination, illustrating the fears, and the myths and legends, the oceans have evoked in mankind throughout history.
The show cast characters such as Daedalus, the first man to fly, the Olympian gods, and Heroes such as Heracles, parading in a colourful succession of sketches: the birth of Man and the Gods, the Big Bang, the Deluge, Atlantis, the Maritime Discoveries, the Conquest of Space, and so on.
Created by François Confino and Philipe Genty and produced by Razon, the show was staged four times daily. It combined classic special effects with state-of-the-art multimedia technology.

 Pavilhão Atlântico today

Pavilhão Atlântico is a unique facility.

Its aesthetics, versatility, flexibility, and stunning architecture of simple yet highly innovative forms provide a perfect stage for highly successful events.

Pavilhão Atlântico is a member of EAA – European Arenas Association and of ATL – Associação de Turismo de Lisboa (Lisbon Touring Society), and this vast and highly symbolic facility is located inside Lisbon’s Parque das Nações development. The location, on the northern shore of Lisbon’s Tagus River, is rather privileged and provides great ease of access. It is also very close to Lisbon’s International Airport (only 5 minutes away). Pavilhão Atlântico’s stunning architectural design features excellent, advanced infrastructure and it is one the most modern event hosting facilities in the world today.

Thanks to its architectural and operational features, Pavilhão Atlântico was distinguished by the International Olympic Committee and the International Association for Sports and Leisure Facilities in 2001, having been awarded the IOC/IAKS Gold Award in the “International Sports Events Facilities” category. It won Publituris Awards in 2004, 2005, and 2006 in the “Best Congress Facility” category, and it won an award in the “Best Multipurpose Facility” category at the 2007 edition of that Gala.

Built between 1996 and 1998, the facility was one of the prime stages of Lisbon’s Expo’98 running 440 sessions of the Utopia Show during the 4 months of the Exposition to host close to 4 million spectators.

The venue comprises three integrated facilities which can all be easily adapted to the needs and characteristics of each particular type of event. Atlântico Hall features a 5,200 square metre arena with a capacity of 12,500 seats and it can host any type of event, having unique versatility that guarantees absolute success. Tejo Hall features a 2,200 square metre area illuminated by natural light and is a facility where all your ideas can materialise. And its Business Centre features a 100-seat auditorium and 11 meeting and conference or exhibition rooms that can be easily reconfigured and are capable of hosting any type of smaller-scale event.

From gala banquets to congresses, fashion to sports, or stage shows to product launches, Pavilhão Atlântico is a rather flexible venue, suitable for every need. Whether it requires an area of 60 or 10,000 square metres. Or whether you need to cater anywhere from 20 to 20,000 spectators.

This is a peerless venue in Portugal. Our real drive is our passion for event production and our primary goal is to satisfy the needs of those who are looking for elegance, cost-effectiveness, know-how, versatility, and flexibility. And you have the guarantee of our commitment to ensure that every event is as successful as possible and a hallmark for the ventures of all and every single one of our clients.