Architects convert 150-year-old Lisbon building into an artisanal green studio

Portuguese architects Alina Jerónimo and Paulo Carneiro transformed a 150-year-old building in Lisbon into an artisanal open-plan architecture studio with a gentle environmental footprint. The duo trained two local workers how to incorporate green renovation techniques into their restoration efforts, resulting in an elegant new working space populated with earth-friendly materials.

The building is located in a historic area of Lisbon that has functioned as a fishing district for centuries. Several interventions on the ground floor debilitated the structure of the building, jeopardizing its stability. The architects applied a sustainable model to the renovation in order to achieve a positive environmental and social impact using several disappearing crafts, traditional carpentry and natural building materials such as wood, straw and lime. The result is a space rich in materials and textures that are flexible, porous and breathable.

During the renovation, the architects used the building as a workshop, which allowed them to explore different building techniques, design and make furniture, lamps and screen doors on site. Their experiments have demonstrated that historic, modern and natural design can live in perfect harmony.