Areia Preta Fire Station and School

About

One of the most iconic pieces by architect Manuel Vicente in Macau lies in Dr. Francisco Vieira Machado Avenue, the Areia Preta Fire Station, built from 1991 to 1998. Two main themes govern this building: the translation of light and how it extends to the difference in temperature felt between the inside and the outside, and the spatial relationship it creates with solids and voids. The light deflection creates textures that dance around columns, intersects with beams and windows through pre-caste grids, hollow concrete blocks and metallic surfaces. This is particularly visible in the tower, where the 45º angle square patterned grid provides a unique screening of the light that enters, contrasting with the red, the white and the concrete.