Ecork Hotel - Outdoor Area/Entrance

Project :

Ecork Hotel

Architect :

Jose Carlos Cruz

Location :

Evora, Portugal

Collection :

Unique Hotels

Claiming to be the only cork-clad hotel in the world, creating eco-friendly acoustic and thermal insulation, the Ecorkhotel also uses geothermal heating in the main building and solar panels for all hot water, making its eco-credentials pretty good.

Located just 7km from the World Heritage town, Evora, the large low-lying cube sits in 8000 square meters of veteran cork-oaks, holm-oaks and olive trees. As owner and general manager Manuel Policarpo explained, it took two years to actually build, but nearly ten to marshall ideas and permits. By law, no cork tree can be cut down, so the design had to work around them.