Following Lisbon’s growing prominence as a new technology hub in Europe, the Oriente Green Campus is a multi-building tech oasis born from an existing retail mall.

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The Silicon Valley of Europe

An unfinished, derelict mall in a growing area of the “Silicon Valley of Europe” presented a perfect opportunity for a transformative adaptive reuse project.

Optimizing Performance, Minimizing Impact

With modern environmental performance targets in mind, this mall also represented an opportunity to strategically retain as much material as useful in the final design—a key method for minimizing embodied carbon. For the design team, this meant undertaking the forensic pursuit of understanding every last element of the building. There is a learned art to this optimization practice. Simply making an old building look new again won’t attract tenants, and certain things, such as the mechanical elements, had to be created from scratch to fit the existing structure.

From Shopping Mall to Tech Office

The size of a city block, the four story structure was primarily made of enormous slabs of concrete; a donut hole in the center was intended to be a quadruple height atrium.

Considering Lisbon’s recent growth in the tech industry, the KPF team and developers immediately recognized the large open floor plates as an opportunity to create the kind of flexible, expansive office space desired by technology and research companies. This was a chance to attract big international firms by creating a grade of office space that hadn’t existed in Lisbon.

Flexible Floorplates

Taking advantage of the donut hole, one of the major formal moves proposed by KPF was to open all the floors for ventilation and turn the center of the mall into an open courtyard. By peeling back walls and selectively opening up ceilings, the building became naturally ventilated and filled with light, bringing the project closer to its sustainability goals. Natural ventilation will be possible for approximately 127 working days per year (35%) allowing clean air supply and reduced energy consumption.

Community Collaboration

Underdogs, a Portuguese public art initiative, was invited to curate a temporary public art installation at the construction site to engage with the local community. This large-scale artwork, created by Portuguese collective Halfstudio, comprises a series of sculptures taking the form of inspirational words. Chosen during a workshop involving community members from the Moscavide and Portela parish, and conducted by socio-cultural educator and artist Maze, these words reflect the values and desires of the local population for this area of the city. The unveiling of the installation was accompanied by a performance, which included music, spoken word, and contemporary circus.

Architectural Touches

Finishing out the building with a new curvilinear roofline placed atop the now open roof deck, Oriente Green Campus will be an icon when completed. After presentation, the city of Lisbon approved it almost immediately. 

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