The Sinel de Cordes Palace, a palatial construction from the mid 18th century, was built by the Sinel de Cordes family. According to geneologic research, this family descended from the Flemish nobility took up residence in Lisbon following the 1755 earthquake. In the mid 19th century, the building was acquired by the 1st Viscount Correia Godinho. At the start of the 20th century, when it was home to the Italian Legation, a violent fire destroyed most of its interior, which would later be reconstructed. In the 1930s up until 2006, the Palace functioned as an elementary school. It would remain closed until 2012, when the arrival of the Triennale prompted a rekindling of public and institutional interest for this striking building. On the competition the solution of the FSSMGN arquitectos was revealing layers of the building history and prepared ground for the rehabilitation of the palace.

The Lisbon Architecture Triennial is located in Campo de Santa Clara at the Sinel de Cordes Palace. This building is the property of the Municipality of Lisbon but the Triennale has been granted use of the building as part of a strategy for creating a new creative hub in the city. Triennial becomes in such way a generator for discussions between conceptualizing, programming, practicing and critiquing architecture and the city in the ongoing, expanding work dynamic.