Experimental

The new building for the NOVA Institute for a Sustainable Future promotes the ideals upheld by NOVA FCT – technical excellence, scientific relevance, and research prestige. These principles thus become the foundation of the project and the guiding line of its constructive approach.

The volumetry is clear, the structure is modular, and its interior is expressed outward, revealing the internal organization composed of laboratories, scientific research areas, industrial spaces, and informal workspaces for researchers.

The proposal is based on the progressive–technological model advocated by the Institution, while simultaneously acknowledging the existing built fabric and strengthening the building’s relationship with the nearby vegetation.

The project and the components that define it — scale, form, structure, façade, materiality, color — make use of industrial elements: their symbolism represents a new generation of innovation and multidisciplinary research between the economic, scientific, and industrial sectors.