|pt018|
São Lourenço do Barrocal
Eduardo Souto de Moura
Collaborators
André Tavares, José Carlos Mariano, Tiago Coelho, Marta Pinho, Susana Oliveira, Maria João Fonseca, Ana Fortuna, Nuno Cordeiro, Otília Ayres Ferreira, Bruna Serralheiro
Technical Consultancy
Structures: Filipe Arteiro
Electrical installations: Maria da Luz Santiago
Mechanical installations: Marco Carvalho
Construction company: Manuel Vieira & Irmãos, Lda.
Client
Sao Lourenço do Barrocal, Investimentos Turisticos e Imobiliarios S.A.
EM 514
7200-177 Reguengos de Monsaraz,
Portugal
The project to transform this old agricultural estate into a contemporary tourist complex doesn’t intend to be neither heroic nor perverse, it only tries to find the balance between going too far, with the risk of ruining it, and not doing enough, in such a way that it might not work. The starting point is that the only way to preserve heritage is by using it, even if it shows damage, because only daily life transforms historic architecture into something natural. With barely any intervention, the agricultural facilities change uses to adapt to the new program: the old oil press becomes a bar, the existing buildings become rooms, and the stable is converted into a restaurant. With views of the city of Monsaraz and very close to the Alqueva reservoir, the tourist complex preserves the country-like atmosphere of a rural village and blends into the surrounding fields, filled with holm oaks, vineyards, and olive groves.
Original Use Rural
New Use Tourism
Build Date [2008 — 2016]
Preexistance
Agricultural complex
[18th Century]
[18th Century]