Neighbourhood A Madalena

Neighbourhood A Madalena

A working-class neighbourhood with an European inspiration.
In the year 1972 ENDESA gets the rights over the exploitation of the lignite mine in As Pontes and it starts building a new power station. In order to face the arrival of hundreds of workers and their families, ENDESA builds four neighbourhoods between 1974 and 1976, and they will be offered to workers to hire.

The first one is the Poboado da Madalena in 1974, by the architect Raúl Freire Pérez. The residential model is based on German Siedlungen and Viennese Höfe. They are working-class models from the first quarter of the 20th century to give workers a decent home.

The neighbourhood is formed by 32 buildings with 4 floors, with 248 homes in an area of 3ha. There are 3 types of homes, with 3, 4 and 5 bedrroms, and with a living room, kitchen, bathroom and clothesline. It is important to highlight the pedestrian area, which comprises all the place among buildings, squares and green zones.