London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

These Restored 19th-Century Apartments in Portugal Boast Original Fresco-Lined Walls

These Restored 19th-Century Apartments in Portugal Boast Original Fresco-Lined Walls

In the historic Baixa Pombalina district of Lisbon, Portugal, the multiyear renovation of an abandoned 19th-century building uncovers a magnificent surprise.

In Lisbon, Portugal, local firm José Adrião Arquitetos reimagined an old apartment building in the heart of the historic Baixa Pombalina district. "The structure was severely dilapidated," says lead architect José Adrião Martins. "It had been greatly weakened by the demolition of ground-level walls, which led to the floors settling."



For the renovation, the firm was tasked with changing the configuration of the corner building from two apartments to three per floor, all while preserving as much of the original Pombaline-style layout as possible.



When construction began in 2017, the team’s first goal to tackle was correcting the structural shortcomings of the dilapidated 19th-century building. "We sought to repair previous roof damage in addition to reconstructing the ground level," says the architect. It was during this time that the firm also made a surprising discovery.



"Examination of the wall paintings revealed the existence of successive layers of frescoes and tempera paintings in all of the apartments," Martins says. "Preserving them became one of the most important concerns of the whole project."



To avoid scraping the detailed frescoes, which had been hidden for decades under new layers of paint on the walls, the team altered the existing renovation strategy by developing "new solutions for installing the building infrastructure," Martins says.



Though the architects initially planned to restore all of the original frescoes and artworks, they eventually decided to leave the paintings in their current states. "The consensus was that these traces of the past should be left as they are-overlapping and incomplete-with all of their flaws," says Martins. "We endeavored to reveal the sheer complexity of the building [and] the multitude of transformations that it has undergone over time."



Now, the restored apartment building features a captivating blend of old and new. "To meet the contemporary demands of comfort and mobility, we introduced an elevator near the stairway enclosure in a central area of the building that enables to safeguard the stairway," Martins says.

New windows were also installed throughout each unit, along with upgraded fixtures and finishes. Refinished hardwoods line the floors, complementing the historic artwork that wraps the walls on each level.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×