Garducho Biological Station
João Maria Ventura Trindade 

Garducho Biological Station

João Maria Ventura Trindade 


Natura 2000 is a biodiversity preservation program of the European Union that follows the objective of protecting spaces that have a rich fauna and flora. This center for the study of nature, developed on one of these sites, intervenes on three existing buildings by extending their surfaces without using up any ground area, which remains intact and permeable. To achieve this, the proposal turns the existing volumes into structural cores on which the new building goes up.

This additional level rises one meter over the highest part of the plot, defining a series of private courtyards around the residence building and an access on the opposite end, where the terrain is at a lower level. The center of this rectangle of 55x27,5 meters is a large courtyard around which the existing buildings are organized, as well as several covered exterior spaces. At ground level, the new level frames the horizontal landscape of the region.

Because of its extreme isolation, the station has to remain self-sufficient in terms of energy and water supply, which is possible thanks to the photovoltaic panels set in the roofs and the deposits to store rainwater. 


Cliente Client

CEAI, Centro de Estudo da Avifauna Ibèrica:

Carla Janeiro, Tiago Ferro

Arquitecto Architect

João Maria Ventura Trindade

Colaboradores Collaborators

Chiara Ternullo, Nuno Marcos, André Monteiro Rosa, Adelaide Neves, Lourenço van Innis, Filipe Carvalho, Susana Medeiros, Jorge Vicente, Liliana César Rodrigues (edificio building); Filipe Nunes, Rita Figueiredo, Nélson Rodrigues (exposición exhibition)

Consultores Consultants

PRPC Engenheiros: Paulo Cardoso, Pedro Romano, Hugo Veríssimo, Carlos Crespo (estructuras e infraestructuras structural engineering and infrastructures); João Mira, Rui Batista (energía técnica technical energy); Fernanda Fragateira con/with Filipe Meireles, José Fragateiro, Patrícia Cativo (intervención artística artistic intervention)

Contratista Contractor

Construções Monsaraz: Virgílio Valadas

Fotos Photos

André Carvalho/José Manuel Silva, Leonardo Finotti; Ventura Trindade