Experimental

he intervention at Quinta de Santo António do Prado evokes the idea of permanence — of time layered and sedimented within the landscape. Once a rural hamlet, this place housed a small farming community for decades. At the northern edge stand two stone manor houses, flanked by outbuildings of varying scales, periods, and functions: barns, storage sheds, improvised greenhouses — all witnesses to an organic and utilitarian growth shaped by the needs of daily life.

In the 1990s, the site was abandoned. Time, weather, and successive informal occupations led to the deep degradation of the buildings.

The current proposal is a critical recovery that recognises the value of the site and its history. Rather than seeking to reconstruct, it aims to revalidate. Paths and routes are redefined; accesses and transitions are redesigned — all while preserving the site’s rural and understated character. Original materials — stone, timber, traditional renders — are retained and applied using local techniques, with careful attention to existing construction morphologies. The intervention seeks to minimise ecological impact, prioritising adaptation over replacement.

The larger houses are reconfigured into small guest accommodation units; derelict outbuildings are demolished; the former animal pens are transformed into spaces for collective use. At the southern edge of the property, overlooking the Douro River, a small campsite is integrated into the landscape — discreet and quiet.

Today, as in the past, the place remains. But times have changed — and this renovation is also an act of reconnection and redefinition.