Viewpoint

Ponta do Pargo Lighthouse

Preliminary Design
Calheta
2021

The Ponta do Pargo Viewpoint project proposes the upgrading of the area around the Ponta do Pargo lighthouse, on a headland of great landscape scale where the relationship with the Atlantic horizon is dominant. The intervention is organised around the existing building and introduces a support programme and a network of outdoor routes that culminates in a viewing platform projecting over the cliff.

The proposal takes on a discreet presence, preserving the lighthouse as the identifying reference of the place. The support building, with a restaurant, bar, shop and toilets, adopts a restrained, horizontal language, sitting close to the ground with materials in tones close to those of the earth and the rock, so as to reinforce its visual integration.

Rendering of a Ponta do Pargo viewpoint platform projecting over the cliff. Aerial rendering of the lighthouse and proposed paths on the clifftop.
Rendering of the curved route around the lighthouse and platforms above the ocean.

The viewpoint is the most expressive gesture: a panoramic deck, freely accessible and almost above the ocean, conceived both as a route and as a place to linger, with 360-degree views. Intermediate platforms and seating areas mark moments of pause and contemplation, ensuring safety and visual continuity along the way.

Rendering of viewing platforms at different levels on the slope.
Rendering of the covered seating area with an open view of the ocean. Rendering of the lighthouse behind a cantilevered viewing platform.
Aerial view of the lighthouse and existing clifftop site.