Located in the historical ‘Zona de Couros’ (leathers zone) neighborhood of the Portuguese city of Guimarães, this building for a postgraduate advanced training center is the result of transforming an old tanning factory made up of various constructions organized around a courtyard. The transformation was carried out with two criteria in mind: first, demolishing all worthless spaces built in the last decades; second, maintaining the volumetric composition of the complex, characterized by low blocks, low roofs, and cantilevers, and forming part of the city’s collective imagery. This double approach rests on the use of a contemporary language and a selection of materials which together reflect the surrounding context: granite, wood, and especially copper, with sheets placed in cross seams and held up by a metal subframe that forms a light ventilated facade. The finish – shiny today, tomorrow a patina – strikes a dialogue with the typical light of northern Portugal.