Architecture practice BIG and developer Castro Group have unveiled designs for the Fuse Valley development in Porto, which will house the headquarters of luxury fashion platform Farfetch.
Located on the slopes of the Leça River, in the northern area of Porto, Portugal, Fuse Valley will contain Farfetch's headquarters within 12 interconnected buildings.
Top: the Fuse Valley development will be home to Farfetch and a number of technology companies. Above: the buildings will have an angular form
The whole site, described as an "urban fashion village," will be designed by BIG and have 24 buildings in total, with the additional buildings set to house other tech and startup companies.
The 178,000 square-metre Fuse Valley development will feature buildings organised in a checkerboard formation and oriented around landscaped parks, courtyards, gardens and plazas. The structures have an angular design that looks to mimic the surrounding hillside landscape, with hill-like peaks and valleys created through sloped green roofs.
Pathways at Fuse Valley are widened by tapering walls
The exterior walls of the office buildings are similarly sloped, with gridded, chamfered facades tapering to ground level in order to widen public paths and create canopies over walkways.
BIG incorporated outdoor paths to lead visitors around the community village and up onto the sloped-roofed offices, creating an extension of the surrounding hillside.
"The individual buildings that constitute ...