Accessibility adaptation of a building in a historical city centre

This paper will discuss the accessibility adaptation of an old building located in the historical centre of Guimarães, Portugal. The city of Guimarães is located in the region of Minho, in the northwest of Portugal. The history of Guimarães is close related with the foundation of the Portuguese nationality. The city old centre has a unique atmosphere of old buildings, narrow streets and squares giving a meaning to the cultural heritage, which is the everyday reality for the local population. In 2001 the historical centre received the UNESCO World Heritage award. Having in mind transforming this old and historical building in a place more convenient to receive and provide support for handicapped persons, a study was performed in order to verify the possibilities of changing its accessibility. To carry out that study, an inquiry of the needs and expectations of the users was done. Several accessibility technologies and technics were checked in order to verify their adequacy with the regulations and space possibilities for their adoption. The architectural integration of the technically adequate solutions was considered and thus the range of usable solutions was even more restricted. Finally, the remaining two possible solutions were detailed studied in terms of project design and financial costs. The selected solution was not the less expensive but the one that can be implemented quicker and with less interference with the architecture