Danish maritime architecture studio MAST has revealed plans to build a hotel formed of houses on stilts in a Portuguese lagoon formerly used for salt production.
Located on the Sado Estuary near Setúbal, the overgrown salina will be transformed into an eco-conscious tourist destination that takes cues from the traditional fisherman's huts and jetties common to lagoons and rivers in the south of Portugal.
The stilt houses will be built on an abandoned salina on the Sado Estuary
Construction is expected to begin imminently, with the first houses scheduled to open to guests in late 2025.
The project also involves turning a large section of the 50-hectare site into a nature reserve.
Marshall Blecher, architect and co-founder of MAST, said the ambition is to promote sustainable tourism. "The project adds much-needed accommodation to the area while having the lightest possible touch on the unique landscape," he said.
The houses will serve as guest suites for a hotel
MAST's masterplan proposes more than 50 stilted houses on the water. These are to be prefabricated off-site using Portuguese cross-laminated timber (CLT).
According to Blecher, this will reduce the impact on the "delicate landscape".

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The lagoon is filled with halophytic plants such as saltbush and an abundance of brine shrimp that attracts flocks of flamingos and oystercatch...