Rio Frio

Originally spanning 50,000 hectares, Herdade de Rio Frio is distinguished by its traditions of agricultural and technological innovation dating back to the 19th century. Its core estate functions as a self-sufficient micro-urban settlement, integrating workers’ housing, a primary school, chapel, stables, wine cellars, and recreational spaces.

The project focuses on the rehabilitation of an existing warehouse, proposing its conversion into a multifunctional programme: an events/conference space, office, meeting room, and exhibition area. The intervention respects the built heritage, balancing memory and contemporaneity. The warehouse’s pre-existing morphology structures the new programme and defines the spatial relationships between areas.

As a space belonging to Corticeira Amorim, cork takes centre stage in the material identity of the project, alongside industrial components and artefacts from the former factory, transforming the space into a living museum. Office furniture is created through the reuse and repurposing of existing elements found within the complex.

The roof was sculpted to optimise natural light intake, reducing energy consumption and improving thermal and visual comfort. A formerly bricked-up doorway was reopened, restoring the original rhythm of the façade and improving the interior/exterior relationship. The building’s most significant defining elements were consolidated and equipped with the necessary contemporary technological infrastructure.