MiniCasas Portugal
MiniCasas Portugal is a Caldas da Rainha-based company that hand-crafts tiny houses, gypsy caravans, hobbit houses, yurts and camper van con…
Eco-building Techniques
Builders and teachers working with earth, straw, lime and timber across Portugal. Learn the techniques at a workshop or hire the people who master them.
Projects in this focus
Casa dos Sonhos Yurts
Casa dos Sonhos Yurts is a family-run enterprise based in the Portalegre district of Portugal that handcrafts self-supporting yurts using lo…
Aldeias de Pedra – Construções
Aldeias de Pedra – Construções is a natural construction company in Vila de Rei that restores traditional buildings and brings in modern com…
Ecocentro Raiz4
Ecocentro Raiz4 is a research centre in Castelo Branco, Portugal, working on permaculture, bioconstruction and sustainability. It combines t…
Debarro Arquitectura
Debarro Arquitectura is an interdisciplinary bio-architecture studio working in Portugal and Argentina. It offers architectural design, natu…
Green Heritage
Green Heritage is a bio-construction company in Portugal that designs and supplies modular eco-home kits made with natural materials such as…
Eco-building techniques in Portugal
Earth, straw, lime and timber are not new here, most old Portuguese village houses are some combination of stone, earth mortar and lime render. What is new is doing it deliberately, to modern standards, and getting it signed off.
The builders and teachers listed under this focus work in those materials across the country, and some teach as well as build. That matters, because the constraint on natural building in Portugal is rarely the material and usually the availability of someone who knows how to use it.
Workshops are the normal entry point, and several run over a weekend. The natural materials, superadobe and cob, and renovation and retrofitting focuses cover the specific methods. Dated activities from these projects are listed in our events calendar.