São Cosme do Vale, a parish within the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão, in northwestern Portugal's Braga District, is the location of an equestrian center by Visioarq Arquitectos (Nuno Poiarez, Pedro Afonso, Vicente Gouveia). The idea was to insert the complex into the natural environment with a high dose of respect. The school is broken up into stables and two riding tracks – one covered, the other open-air. Pinewood is the main material, used in structure and claddings alike. The loadbearing elements are clearly the centerpieces. Everything else unfolds from them. Through a combination of simplicity and functionality, the riding academy was given an identity of its own.