A MINERAL MONOLITH ON LISBON’S WATERFRONT - EDP HEADQUARTERS II BY ALEJANDRO ARAVENA

Alejandro Aravena Designs a Rock-Like Concrete Fortress for EDP Lisbon

Located along the revitalized waterfront of Lisbon, the new EDP Riverside Building designed by Alejandro Aravena and the internationally acclaimed ELEMENTAL architecture studio, redefines the contemporary workplace through architecture focused on collaboration, flexibility, and human experience. Commissioned by EDP – Energias de Portugal, the project replaces an existing EDP office building on Rua Dom Luís I and expands the company’s presence near its headquarters on Avenida 24 de Julho, one of Lisbon’s most strategic riverside corridors.

Winner of the 2016 Pritzker Architecture Prize, Alejandro Aravena conceived the building with a powerful architectural language rooted in the expressive use of concrete. The design combines structural clarity with spatial warmth, creating a contemporary corporate environment that balances efficiency, openness, and employee wellbeing.

The new EDP building ( Sede II ) accommodates approximately 800 employees across multiple business units and introduces a highly adaptable workspace ecosystem. The interior program includes focus zones for concentration, informal collaboration areas, spontaneous communication spaces, lounge environments, workcafés, stand-up meeting areas, speed meeting spaces, and formal conference rooms. This diversity of settings supports new hybrid and dynamic ways of working while fostering creativity and interaction.

With a gross construction area of 23,800 square meters and four underground parking levels totaling 257 parking spaces, the project represents a major addition to Lisbon’s evolving architectural landscape. Its strategic riverside location strengthens the dialogue between corporate architecture and the urban regeneration of the Portuguese capital.

Completed in 2024 and documented through the photography of Francisco Nogueira, the EDP Riverside Building stands as a landmark example of sustainable and people-oriented workplace architecture in Europe, reinforcing Lisbon’s growing reputation as a hub for innovative contemporary design.

The building in Lisbon develops a massive and sculptural architectural language where raw concrete becomes the central element of the project. The building establishes a powerful, almost mineral presence within Lisbon’s urban landscape. Far from a conventional office building, the project explores density, thickness, and façade depth to create a quiet sense of monumentality. Exposed concrete is not treated as a simple finish, but as both a structural and climatic material. Its raw texture, deep shadows, and compact volumes give the building an almost geological identity, reinforcing the idea of an architecture that is durable, timeless, and deeply rooted in its context.

This approach reflects a contemporary reinterpretation of brutalism, more open, more porous, and more human-centered. Inside, the workspaces encourage flexibility and informal interaction, while the façades naturally filter daylight and protect the interiors from Lisbon’s intense sun exposure.

The project continues Alejandro Aravena’s ongoing exploration of monolithic concrete buildings, particularly seen in the renowned Anacleto Angelini Innovation Center in Santiago. As with the Innovation Center UC, the EDP headquarters uses mass and the thermal inertia of concrete to address environmental performance while producing an architecture that is radical, restrained, and instantly recognizable.

project name:  edp sede II 

client: EDP - Energias de Portugal

architecture: ELEMENTAL  architecture studio, ed by Alejandro Aravena - www.elementalchile.cl

location: Lisbon, Portugal

year: 2024

status: completed

gross construction area: 23,800 m²

usable office area: 11,400 m²

project area: 10,950 m²

capacity: approximately 800 employees

parking: 257 spaces across four underground levels, including 97 public spaces

photographer: francisco nogueira (c) francisconogueira.com

engineering team: afa consult, rui furtado, pedro pereira, marco carvalho, mauro monteiro, paulo silva, raul serafim, maria da luz santiago, rodrigo castro. 

You can also review the EDP Headquarters 'Sede I' by Aires Mateus Architects, just HERE