2025
Serra da Gardunha
Section A-A
The Gardunha landscape design is organised concentrically around the proposed architecture, as a sequence of naturalistic ecological gardens that interpret the native plant communities of Serra da Gardunha, supporting a resilient, low-maintenance design.
Closest to the house, the Heath Garden draws from the local Halimio ocymoidis–Ericetum umbellatae heathland, using drought-tolerant shrubs, subshrubs, grasses, and geophytes adapted to the locations dry, acidic, phosphate-poor siliceous soils. A low evergreen matrix preserves views towards the mountain peaks, and provides year-round structure, with the garden surface mulched in local crushed schist to maintain low fertility, reduce maintenance, and promote a relationship between the materiality of the hardscape and the site’s lithology.
Section B-B
Adjacent to the Heath Garden, the Wildflower Meadows preserve the site’s open character, particularly north of the house where key views toward Serra da Estrela are maintained. Composed of herbaceous perennials and annuals typical of the region’s dry meadow communities, particularly the community of Dactylis hispanica subsp. lusitanica, they present an early spring to early summer phenology, reinforcing a strong seasonal dynamic. Maintained for high plant species diversity and invertebrate habitat, the meadows would be managed through mosaic mowing on a seasonal rotation.
Section C-C
To the south, the Chestnut Agroforest occupies a fertile ridge with loam soils rich in organic matter, following a keyline geometry informed by the traditional chestnut agroforests of central Portugal, know as Castanhais. Rows are aligned with the landform to optimise hydrology and solar exposure, supported by swales that redistribute seasonal moisture downslope to the centre of the ridge. The agroforest includes a polyculture of native fruit trees, blueberries, asparagus and strawberry beds, and annual vegetable beds, organize along the rows in a staggered repeating formation. A ‘living wildflower path’ occupies the alleys, which maintain accessibility, encourage biodiversity, and improve nutrient cycling.
Section D-D
Along the Ribeira de Tormentosa, the project restores a Floodplain Terrace Woodland, reintroducing the ash–poplar component of the riparian community Scrophulario scorodoniae-Alnetum glutinosae, parallel to the existing alder gallery. The intended result is the creation of a cool, shaded, summer-green garden with an open canopy, and lush understorey dominated by Europe’s tallest fern Osmunda regalis, interwoven together with mown meadow paths.
Section E-E
At its northern edge, the Riparian Tall-Herb Meadow forms a sheltered gathering space around the fire pit area, maintaining open views towards the 2000m high snowcapped peak of Torre. The planting here represents the megaforbic woodland edge community associated with the alder gallery, displaying showy herbaceous perennials exceeding two meters in height, with a strong late summer phenology. The tall scenessed meadow biomass would be retained through autumn and early winter, providing a striking frost covered seasonal character to the space, whilst offering seed forage to local fauna until a mid-winter cut back.
Section F-F
Along the western flank of the property, and further upslope to the south, the proposal aims to re-establish a Pyrenean Oak Woodland, a historically coppiced deciduous–marcescent forest that once formed the regional climax community, traditionally maintained as a charcoal producing agroforestry system know as Touças. This woodland enhances biodiversity, provides privacy, and forms a natural fire buffer, while supporting the reintroduction of the vulnerable tree Sorbus latifolia.
Within its clearings, the Asphodel Glades create habitat for the endangered Asphodelus bento-rainhae, establishing a new population nucleus in collaboration with regional conservation partners. The site’s hydrology is further supported by Willow Swales, which capture and redistribute runoff, and a Retention Pond located at the valley keypoint. With an estimated capacity of 266,000 litres, the pond supplies gravity-fed irrigation for the agroforest and provides an essential water reserve during drought, power loss, or fire.
Timeline 2025-27
Location Serra da Gardunha, Beira Baixa
Site area 3 hectares
Project Type Private residence
Architect Pedro Brígida
2024
Arruda Dos Vinhos
Section A-A
The Gardunha landscape design is organised concentrically around the proposed architecture, as a sequence of naturalistic ecological gardens that interpret the native plant communities of Serra da Gardunha, supporting a resilient, low-maintenance design.
Closest to the house, the Heath Garden draws from the local Halimio ocymoidis–Ericetum umbellatae heathland, using drought-tolerant shrubs, subshrubs, grasses, and geophytes adapted to the locations dry, acidic, phosphate-poor siliceous soils. A low evergreen matrix preserves views towards the mountain peaks, and provides year-round structure, with the garden surface mulched in local crushed schist to maintain low fertility, reduce maintenance, and promote a relationship between the materiality of the hardscape and the site’s lithology.
Section B-B
Adjacent to the Heath Garden, the Wildflower Meadows preserve the site’s open character, particularly north of the house where key views toward Serra da Estrela are maintained. Composed of herbaceous perennials and annuals typical of the region’s dry meadow communities, particularly the community of Dactylis hispanica subsp. lusitanica, they present an early spring to early summer phenology, reinforcing a strong seasonal dynamic. Maintained for high plant species diversity and invertebrate habitat, the meadows would be managed through mosaic mowing on a seasonal rotation.
Section C-C
To the south, the Chestnut Agroforest occupies a fertile ridge with loam soils rich in organic matter, following a keyline geometry informed by the traditional chestnut agroforests of central Portugal, know as Castanhais. Rows are aligned with the landform to optimise hydrology and solar exposure, supported by swales that redistribute seasonal moisture downslope to the centre of the ridge. The agroforest includes a polyculture of native fruit trees, blueberries, asparagus and strawberry beds, and annual vegetable beds, organize along the rows in a staggered repeating formation. A ‘living wildflower path’ occupies the alleys, which maintain accessibility, encourage biodiversity, and improve nutrient cycling.
Section D-D
Along the Ribeira de Tormentosa, the project restores a Floodplain Terrace Woodland, reintroducing the ash–poplar component of the riparian community Scrophulario scorodoniae-Alnetum glutinosae, parallel to the existing alder gallery. The intended result is the creation of a cool, shaded, summer-green garden with an open canopy, and lush understorey dominated by Europe’s tallest fern Osmunda regalis, interwoven together with mown meadow paths.
Section E-E
At its northern edge, the Riparian Tall-Herb Meadow forms a sheltered gathering space around the fire pit area, maintaining open views towards the 2000m high snowcapped peak of Torre. The planting here represents the megaforbic woodland edge community associated with the alder gallery, displaying showy herbaceous perennials exceeding two meters in height, with a strong late summer phenology. The tall scenessed meadow biomass would be retained through autumn and early winter, providing a striking frost covered seasonal character to the space, whilst offering seed forage to local fauna until a mid-winter cut back.
Section F-F
Along the western flank of the property, and further upslope to the south, the proposal aims to re-establish a Pyrenean Oak Woodland, a historically coppiced deciduous–marcescent forest that once formed the regional climax community, traditionally maintained as a charcoal producing agroforestry system know as Touças. This woodland enhances biodiversity, provides privacy, and forms a natural fire buffer, while supporting the reintroduction of the vulnerable tree Sorbus latifolia.
Within its clearings, the Asphodel Glades create habitat for the endangered Asphodelus bento-rainhae, establishing a new population nucleus in collaboration with regional conservation partners. The site’s hydrology is further supported by Willow Swales, which capture and redistribute runoff, and a Retention Pond located at the valley keypoint. With an estimated capacity of 266,000 litres, the pond supplies gravity-fed irrigation for the agroforest and provides an essential water reserve during drought, power loss, or fire.
Timeline 2025-27
Location Serra da Gardunha, Beira Baixa
Site area 3 hectares
Project Type Private residence
Architect Pedro Brígida
Melides
10ha hospitality development
Fields: Landscape Architecture, Ecological restoration, Regenerative agriculture
Deliverables: Landscape Masterplan, Construction supervisionPartners: Aires Mateus Architects, Cru Atelier, Sigmetum, Lirium, Campestris, Jardimseco
2023 Grandola, Portugal - Ongoing
HA Landscapes was invited by the client to develop a Landscape Masterplan for a hotel and residence within a 10 hectare property in the hills of Grandola, located along the Atlantic coast in south-west Portugal. The concept for phase 1 of the landscape design was borne out of an interpretation of the potential natural vegetation of the surrounding cork oak and narrow-leaved mock privet forest sigmetum. Due to the sites topography along a high ridge, the proposed gardens surrounding the hotel occupy independent plains within the landscape, responding to gradients in soil moisture and soil depth across the space.
A network of gardens are proposed that represent the diverse series of vegetation communities found in the surrounding forest. Each garden has a unique interface with the main building, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside, drawing visitors out into a multi-faceted landscape that aims to be hyper-contextual, offering an experience that has a deep sense of place and connectivity to it’s surroundings. Phase 2 of landscape design will include an extensive no-till kitchen garden, vineyards designed using principles of the traditional trellised Vinho Verde system and 3km of woodland walks that circulate around the property, highlighting the beauty of the ancient cork oak forests.
S. Isidoro
2022 Ericeira, Portugal - Delivered
2.1ha urban development
Fields: Landscape architecture, Urban design, Ecological restorationDeliverable: Landscape Concept design submitted for PIP (Pedido de Informaçao Prévia)Partners: Rhyzo, Henrique Barros-Gomes Arquitectos, Jardim Serranos, Sigmetum
For the design of S. Isidoro, located along the Atlantic coast of central Portugal, the client requested a landscape led urban design approach, where the architects worked within the system developed for the landscape. Due to the sites position within a national agricultural reserve, the proposal at the strategic level was anchored around the restoration of a network of traditional hedgerows that had long disappeared. The hedgerows would structure the site, similar to a bocage system, acting as windbreaks due to the sites proximity to the ocean. The hedges offer new green corridors composed of native vegetation communities with the potential of extending beyond the project, connecting the adjacent watersheds and the remaining patches of intact native vegetation at a future stage.
Within the site the landscape was structured around five rain gardens running along contour. These interventions act as the backbone to the landscape, mitigating flooding issues and soil saturation common with the sites heavy clay soils. The rain gardens slow surface run-off, helping increase soil moisture into the summer drought, whilst recharging the aquifer below. Eight urban units and a pavilion are positioned within this system, taking advantage of breaks in the hedgerows, responding to specific panoramas of the Atlantic ocean and the Sintra hills beyond. Extensive wildflower meadows are proposed to act as the connective tissue between all the individual components within the landscape. Managed as conservation hay meadows for high species richness, the meadow species compositions is based on the specific potential natural vegetation of the seasonal alkaline meadows of central-west Portugal.
Parque Urbano do Casal Vistoso
2022 Areeiro, Lisbon, Portugal - Constructed
0.3 ha reforestation project
Fields: Landscape architecture, Ecological restoration, Community organisationDeliverable: Landscape Concept designPartners: Urbem, Rhyzo, City Council of Lisbon
To read more follow the link
The goal for this community organised urban reforestation project was to create a space for local activities sited within an engaging green space within the broader context of the park, whilst utilizing the space as a series of experimental test plots where we could develop reforestation techniques based on the Miyawaki method, but highly adapted to a Csa Mediterranean climate.
The concept focused on partitioning the site into three wedges. Each wedge would represent one of three distinct vegetation communities (sigmetum) found within the city of Lisbon. The plots tested three approaches within each wedge; conventional high stem density found in traditional mesic Miyawaki projects, moderate stem density with broadcast native cover crops and moderate stem density with woodchip mulch. Monitoring and evaluation will record the results over a number of years to gauge the success of each approach. Feedback from the experiment will hopefully shed light on best practice techniques for reforestation within extended summer drought Mediterranean sites.
Regen Land
2021 Lagoa de Albufeira, Portugal - Investor presentation
50 ha regenerative farm
Fields: Regenerative agriculture, Ecological restorationDeliverables: Landscape concept design, Financial modelling
Partners: Rhyzo, Re:source
Regen Land was proposed as a multi-functional urban development sited adjacent to Lagoa de Albufeira, a nationally important bird reserve and popular recreation area. The development would include a 50 hectare regenerative farm located along the valley of the Ribeira de Aiana, leading directly into the lagoon. Due to the farm interfacing with the wetland area of the lagoon, and the clients desire to promote regenerative agriculture within the scope of the project, an innovative approach was taken for the landscape design.
The design response placed significant emphasis on ‘edge conditions’. Each unique edge to the farmland would produce its own distinct agroforestry system. To the north, along the lagoon edge a salt tolerant system was developed, intercropping high quality native perennial halophyte vegetables with mango, sea buckthorn and sumac for fruit and black cherry for timber production. All species are highly salt tolerant and have the capacity to resist saline incursion due to future sea level rise. Running through the center of the site, acting as the anchor for each system is a restored temporary Mediterranean watercourse. Eucalyptus facines and beaver dam analogues help reconnect the stream bed with the surrounding floodplain whilst restored white willow riparian galleries and narrow-leaved ash and white poplar floodplain terraces stabilize the banks and produce dense root-mats for denitrifying bacteria to filter the ground water as it percolates into the lagoon. Either side of the watercourse are large areas of silvo-pasture, predominantly black mulberry, used as a dry season fodder bank for ruminant livestock under rotational grazing. Along the rising valley sides, under xeric conditions, a woody perennial fruit system is proposed, focused primarily on the Portuguese crowberry.
