Habitar Portugal 12-14HP 12-14

The Caldeira Velha, on the island of São Miguel, has been listed as a Regional Natural Monument since 2004, with the following objectives: ‘(...) scientific study and dissemination in an environmental education approach; enhancement and conservation of the space with the creation of infrastructures that facilitate its operation in an orderly and responsible manner; the conditioning of activities in the protected reserve area and its surroundings.’
Taking these conditioning factors and objectives as the starting point, the result is a building in the midst of a natural environment, akin to a ‘diamond’ adapted to the vegetation.
The materials – corten steel, wood and stone – seek integration into the landscape in a blend of natural and human intervention, whilst the architectural idiom invites visitors to educate themselves.
The building is designed as a circuit, a succession of spaces: entrance, information, exhibition, cafeteria/gift shop and small auditorium, all in an open-plan layout with the furnishings making the spatial distinctions.
In conceptual terms it is a space with diverse contrasts: light and dark (skylights are used to provide light) and built and natural elements (the stone, wood and corten steel elements and the large windows that look out into the surrounding landscape, inviting it into the building’s interior).
In structural terms we opted for a mixed composition: a grid of heb 180 beams supported on concrete pillars and a slab structure with concrete retaining walls.