From the perspective of a student to that of someone "responsible" for the process
Back in the distant summer of 1990, I was enrolled in the Nutrition and Food Science degree program at what was then called the Higher Institute of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto (ISCNAUP). My first contact with the faculty facilities was a shock, as it was for my fellow students.
FCNAUP at São João Hospital
The “building” was a cramped, prefabricated wooden pavilion with a fiber cement roof, containing asbestos as was common at the time, located on the southeastern side of the grounds of the São João Hospital (HSJ). The size of interior spaces, such as the library, was more akin to the world of motorhome tourism than to that of a higher education institution. The external surroundings of these facilities within the HSJ grounds, particularly the road access to the building, bore a striking resemblance to the lunar surface, except on rainy days when the area transformed into a continuous sequence of a thousand lakes and ponds. On those days, a simple trip to the canteen, or to other facilities of the University of Porto (UP) where we had classes, could transport our young imaginations to a journey across bodies of water in some exotic destination, perhaps in a vain attempt to escape the degraded reality of the place.
It was during this period that I first began to hear discussions about the problem of the institution's new facilities, which in 1996 would become an organic unit of the University of Porto, under the name Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto (FCNAUP). Naturally, I believe that the discussion about better facilities began much earlier, I would even say with the creation of the Nutrition Course at the University of Porto in 1976.
In November 1996, I formally began teaching at FCNAUP as a teaching assistant; in December 2000 I became a guest lecturer; and in March 2006 I was hired as an assistant professor after defending my doctoral thesis in an amphitheater in the old facilities of the Faculty of Dental Medicine, which FCNAUP had "inherited." These "new" facilities were wooden pavilions similar to the original FCNAUP building, but they represented a significant increase in available space for the activities of a growing institution. I recall that throughout this period, each time we celebrated the faculty's anniversary, the Rector's representative present at the ceremony nurtured the hope of obtaining adequate facilities, which unfortunately never materialized.
FCNAUP at FEUP
The construction of the new facilities for the Medical Research Center of the Faculty of Medicine of Porto (CIM-FMUP) necessitated the demolition of "our pavilions," which we affectionately called the "shack," and, paradoxically or not, left fond memories for those who worked and studied there. At this stage, a "temporary" move occurred—because everything in life is temporary—to the facilities of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) in the 2009-2010 academic year. Interestingly, the space occupied by the academic services, management bodies, and faculty offices of FCNAUP at FEUP was previously occupied by the student association of that faculty, which moved to new premises because it considered the space insufficient! Furthermore, a new wooden pavilion was built on FEUP grounds, keeping alive the tradition of our beloved "shack," where the student association, the "student lounge," and the gastroenterology and cell biology laboratories operated. At FEUP we were very well received and treated, but a temporary solution with a projected duration of 3 years ended up lasting for more than a decade, penalizing both institutions.
During this transition phase and stay at FEUP, discussions continued regarding "solutions" that did not materialize, such as:
- the construction of a new building on Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, opposite the Campus São João shopping gallery, which even had a complete project and whose model "disappeared" from the FCNAUP corridor at FEUP (at the time the mockery was such that it was said that FCNAUP didn't even have the right to its own facilities in model form);
- the move to the old building of the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences, which also involved a complex and comprehensive building adaptation project;
- or moving to a part of the CIM_FMUP building.
I can't quantify the cost in labor hours and capital invested in all these "solutions," but it must be impressive.
Obviously, the feasibility study of all these "solutions" always required the involvement of FCNAUP personnel to monitor these processes, and there were many over the years. As a member of the Pedagogical Council, I was responsible for assessing the teaching space needs of FCNAUP when the possibility of moving to CIM-FMUP was being considered, and as a tenured professor at FCNAUP, in May 2015 I was appointed, by order of the Director, as a member of the Monitoring Committee for the new FCNAUP facilities. Curiously, shortly after my appointment I informally realized that the Committee was "one-person" due to the departure of the other members.
FCNAUP in Campo Alegre – The House of Nutrition
I immediately began following a new project at the UP campus in Campo Alegre. The project manager was the architect João Castro Ferreira. This project involved the rehabilitation and adaptation of the newest part of the old IBMC building. The history of FCNAUP's presence at the Asprela campus, its connection to FMUP and HSJ raised many concerns and some resistance regarding a possible move to the Campo Alegre campus. Curiously, while this project was still under study, an intervention was carried out in the common outdoor areas of the Faculty of Sciences (FCUP) and, at the time, the future FCNAUP facilities. In this intervention, funded by both institutions, two plaques were placed near the entrance of number 823 on Rua do Campo Alegre, one alluding to FCUP and the other to FCNAUP, and the number of parking spaces allocated to each institution was defined. Years would pass before FCNAUP moved to Campo Alegre, so the presence of the plaque was a frequent source of misunderstandings about the real location of our faculty!
Throughout 2016 and 2017, multiple meetings were held between the design team and all stakeholders, thus promoting successive contacts with faculty, technicians, and students. The administration's concern with involving students in the process led to its presentation at a General Student Meeting and several meetings with the AEFCNAUP (Association of Faculty, Engineering, and Architecture of the University of Porto). These contacts with students allowed for the detailed incorporation of the needs of the various stakeholders in the institution's operation into the architectural and specialized projects. As coordinator of this contact process between the multiple stakeholders, I can attest to the hundreds of hours invested in this project phase by the various participants and the multiple stresses throughout the process.
I remember one of them. For inclusion in the FCNAUP budget proposal, in July 2018 I was asked to present the projected cost of acquiring the furniture and signage project, as well as the acquisition of the goods listed in that project. This request was made on a Tuesday, and the data had to be delivered by Friday of that same week. Requesting quotes for a budget of this size with a 3-day deadline at the end of July was a challenging task. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to contact companies, I received support from Architect João Ferreira and the only sales representative of a laboratory furniture firm who responded, which made it possible to obtain a last-minute quote that, curiously, deviated little from the actual cost two years later! How I miss the days of price stability!
The beginning of the work
In the first half of 2018, the Facilities and Infrastructure Service of the Rectorate of the University of Porto, as the project manager, launched a tender for the renovation and adaptation of the building in Campo Alegre. The contract was awarded and the work began, undertaken by the company CCR Engenharia e Construção, in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The remodeling was underway, but for reasons never explained to me, the building remodeling project did not include furniture and signage, nor was its acquisition pursued at the start of the works, despite my repeated warnings about this need at that stage. This timely planning would have allowed the building to be furnished immediately after the remodeling and a move-in to take place before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. I believe, given the history of the FCNAUP facilities process, that there was a fear within the FCNAUP management that at the last minute the "solution" would cease to be one, and for that reason, expenses for furniture and signage would only proceed once the building was "in hand," but this is just an educated guess.
In December 2018, I was appointed Deputy Director of FCNAUP by Professor Pedro Graça, who had recently been elected. In that capacity, and continuing as responsible for monitoring the process of the new facilities, in January 2019 I considered it useful to participate in the weekly site meetings. In these meetings, I witnessed the many challenges of such complex work and, I believe, contributed at various times to defending the interests of FCNAUP during the execution of the project. The severe limitations of the budget available for the building's renovation had implications for what could, or could not, be done. For example, it was considered not to do the exterior painting, which ended up being carried out, but it was not possible to design and renew an acoustic intervention. The resulting poor sound insulation meant that the faculty later had to make that investment. Also due to budgetary constraints, the fire detection and alarm system was only partially modernized. An old fire detection and alarm control panel was retained for the wired detector network, and a new control panel from a different brand was installed for the wireless detectors. As a consequence, the systems revealed some incompatibility in current use, with numerous false alarms, requiring the replacement of the old control panel at the end of the project. The lesson I learned from these and many other episodes is that initial savings always end up being quite expensive! Another difficulty in carrying out the project was the fact that a biotechnology company was operating in the adjacent building, to whom the Rectorate had leased that space. As there were shared spaces and infrastructures, the execution of the project and the management of these spaces was challenging.
On February 21, 2019, the furniture and signage project was awarded, with Architect João Castro Ferreira remaining as the project manager. This project defined the characteristics of the furniture and signage and established the bills of quantities and works that would allow the tender for the acquisition of these goods to be launched.
On October 11, 2019, the company CCR Engenharia e Construção handed over the keys to the building, marking the "end" of the work. In addition to the handover documents, it was also necessary to coordinate training with CCR regarding the use of equipment and infrastructure for FCNAUP employees. However, the formal transfer of the building's management to FCNAUP would occur months later and, as always, with curious complications. It should also be noted that the contractor had to carry out numerous interventions after this date, some under warranty and others as additional work. In the winter of 2019-2020, there were still many leaks in the building, which sometimes made me think I was on a shipwreck!
With the support of the UP Purchasing Unit, on November 4, 2019, the International Public Tender – NCC_FCNAUP_CPI/19A001_ ACQUISITION OF FURNITURE AND SIGNAGE FOR THE NEW FCNAUP FACILITIES was published in the Official Gazette and on the acingov platform. To improve the management of the tender, the furniture and signage project was divided into fourteen lots. As President of the Jury for this tender, I had to respond to multiple requests for clarification from the sixteen competing companies, participated in the detailed analysis of all proposals, verification of compliance with admission criteria, and ranking of the admitted proposals.
The building becomes "ours"
On January 8, 2020, the University of Porto's Management Council approved the allocation act 8-AI/2019, concerning the allocation of the land and building of the former IBMC, as well as the works carried out to adapt it to the new facilities of FCNAUP, executed by the Rectorate. Formally, from this date, the faculty would be fully responsible for the building's management. How did I find out this had happened? In January 2020, within a few days, I began receiving successive phone calls from FCUP security guards, the neighboring company, and a resident of a neighboring building, during the night and early morning, indicating that the fire alarm had been triggered (I recall the problem with the fire alarm and detection system described above). Surprised, I asked why they were calling me, and I received the answer that they had received this information from the Facilities and Infrastructure Service, Project and Contract Management Unit of the Rectorate. My personal phone number had been provided, without my knowledge, as an emergency contact for the building manager. What is astonishing is that we were not notified in a timely manner of the decision to relocate the building, nor of the termination of responsibility of the Facilities and Infrastructure Service. We only learned of this change on our own initiative after these unfriendly late-night calls forced me to make repeated visits to the building outside of normal hours.
This uncoordinated transfer prevented us from hiring, in a timely manner, the necessary skills for the building's operation, namely security, maintenance, cleaning, pest control, elevator certification, etc. All these procurement processes had to be initiated later with the full support of the Rectorate's Purchasing Unit, but took months. Thus, during the first seven months of 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked as a security guard, maintenance technician, cleaning employee, manager of all contracts for each of the fourteen lots in the furniture and signage tender, president of the jury and contract manager for all tenders essential to the building's operation (security, maintenance, audiovisual equipment, computer equipment, cleaning, water, electricity, gas, etc.), while maintaining full teaching activity. At the same time, deliveries of the goods acquired in the furniture and signage tender began, which I followed from the first to the last minute.
Our schedule anticipated the move in July 2020 and the start of classes in September of that year. By the end of July 2020, the state of the process did not allow me to guarantee that I would have the conditions to start classes at Campo Alegre, and it was no longer possible to continue at FEUP. The successive missed deadlines associated with lockdowns, the delivery of materials that did not conform to specifications, and the use of subterfuge to "sell" additional services were a harsh and daily reality. For example, a certain type of table with a metal frame was unloaded from the truck and returned by me three times because the legs of these tables were not square (they were so crooked that tables that should have had "legs" together and aligned had separations of 3 to 5 centimeters). Imagine the conversations with the transporters and the supplier company. Only in mid-August 2020 did I have the comfort to believe that classes could start here in September 2020.
These lines largely fall short in describing the wide variety of problems we had to solve in the process of setting up the new FCNAUP facilities.
As the community at large was in a state of pandemic panic, for many months only the employees of the supplier companies, the security guards working for the neighboring company – FairJourney, Professor Pedro Graça, and Mr. João Lopes were present daily in the new faculty building. One of the few advantages of being involved in this process was that I didn't have to spend a single day in lockdown! On the other hand, I frequently worked without adequate personal protective equipment. This was another source of anxiety, as on more than one occasion, we had people infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the teams from the companies that worked in the building. Meanwhile, on April 10, 2020 (Good Friday), I received a call from FairJourney, our neighbor, at 10:30 pm informing me that there was a leak in a water pipe, that the company had one and a half million euros worth of equipment and consumables at risk, and that I could be held responsible if anything happened. I stupidly believed that an assistant professor at the University of Porto would be held responsible for the damage caused to a tenant in the Rectorate building. The result was an Easter weekend spent monitoring a water leak, yet another heavy expense for the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto, and another reason to have spent a year sleeping very little each night (an experience I do not recommend).
Final reflections
If you've reached this point in the text and, perfectly realizing that I had previously abandoned it, you'll understand that my relationship with the new FCNAUP facilities oscillates between love and hate. Love, because after 44 years of existence the institution had a home with conditions compatible with what is expected at this level; hate, because there were so many years of annoyances, headaches, anguish, discouragement, and not being able to do what is actually valued in a teaching career, that even today, five years after the move, I have doubts about which feeling prevails.
If luck is the intersection of opportunity and a prepared mind, I conclude that I wasn't very lucky, because my mind wasn't prepared for what I experienced here. I take comfort in the fact that most of the community involved seems to feel good here, in this space that I hope will contribute to many personal and institutional successes now that FCNAUP is approaching its half-century mark!
All that remains is for me to thank those who have helped me so much over the years in this great adventure.
