The emerald green mountains of the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park stand in testimony to the untamed wilds surrounding Cascais, a charming Portuguese beach town on the Atlantic Coast. The park, protected since 1981, is a perk for locals and visitors. It also serves as a fitting backdrop for Portugal’s private enterprises working to bolster an eco-friendly economy.
A luxury development based on eco-friendly elements, AZO is a new private enterprise in Cascais that reflects sustainability through the use of environmentally-safe technologies, green building materials, and amenities. Recently finished, AZO reflects Portugal’s reputation as an unspoiled ecological utopia.
AZO fits the location. Portugal, which tops sustainability lists, continually works to preserve its unique environment through programs such as Rewilding Portugal and Lisbon’s Green Spaces. In recent years, Portugal’s Support Programme for More Sustainable Buildings has stepped up to finance sustainable construction.
Among 193 U.N. Member States, Portugal ranks in the top 20 in the U.N. Sustainable Development Report, which assesses sustainability goals.
Portuguese real estate firm Square View, co-founded by , built AZO in partnership with Stone Capital, a developer and asset manager. OTO, an award-winning, Cascais-based architecture firm, designed AZO.
Horta e Costa describes some of AZO’s features: “Sustainability, parking for electric cars, and a lot of green areas are part of the AZO project.”
He adds, “AZO grew from a lot of creativity, small details, and materials, chosen with dedication and with our mind on the customer’s satisfaction.”
Cascais is the Perfect Spot for AZO’s Sustainable Technologies and Green Building Materials
A municipality in the , Cascais was once a traditional fishing village but is now called the Portuguese Riviera. Stacked stone and sunny stucco houses line the cobblestone streets of this town, where modern amenities and historic structures stand side by side. Located 30km west of Lisbon, it’s that city’s cherished weekend getaway.
Luis Horta e Costa co-founded Square View to produce architecturally unique real estate. He manages a portfolio of 500 residential units and is pleased that AZO delivers style and sustainability.
A longtime player in the real estate investment space, Horta e Costa, a Portugal native, knows the country well. In 2016, he and his partners founded in Lisbon.
“I love Lisbon because there are a lot of beautiful places to visit,” Luis Horta e Costa says.
While appreciating Lisbon’s charms, Horta e Costa adores Portugal’s whimsical seaside towns, including Cascais and Melides. His family has vacationed in such towns for decades.
AZO, a Luxury Property, Invites the Outdoors Inside with its Design
Built on the bay within walking distance of the beaches, AZO celebrates natural beauty amid Cascais’s historic structures and sea-to-table restaurants. It features 18 apartments ranging from one to four bedrooms and 71 and 191 sqm. They are divided between four residential buildings that surround a gorgeous swimming pool.
Spectacular bay-front views highlight AZO’s luxurious apartments and are seen from balcony windows. The residences’ design encourages indoor-outdoor living to take advantage of Cascais’ year-round temperate climate.
Green building materials and technology . AZO’s environmentally-positive foundation suits Cascais, where rock outcroppings and cliff formations have stood for millions of years. Due to rewilding zones, the area surrounding AZO has become a thriving ecosystem that supports wild animals.
As a bonus for nature seekers, a new eco-trekking trail was recently established in the Cascais municipality. Called the Rota do Oesteto, or Western Road, it features five scenic routes that travel through the region’s wilderness and along the shoreline. The trail reveals epic views of golden sand beaches, rocky seaside cliffs, windswept hills, and fields of wildflowers. Visitors can travel all five routes on foot or by mountain bike, electric bicycle, or donkey.
Stone Capital and Luis Horta e Costa’s Square View Enjoy Working in the Sustainability Space
Stone Capital isn’t new to supporting sustainable construction, nor is Luis Horta e Costa. Before fueling the rise of AZO, Stone Capital was behind Comporta Retreat in Comporto, Portugal. Built with sustainable timber, the development’s compound of 29 houses boasts carbon neutrality. Stone Capital also developed Étoile 240, a BREEAM environmentally-certified office building that won Portugal’s National Real Estate Award in 2015.
, Horta e Costa says. Styled like a village, the development in low-key Melides will be a sustainable project that provides electricity for bicycles and cars.
Horta e Costa adores Melides and vacations there with family. Another bastion of unspoiled nature, Melides features lagoons and vast beaches in this laid-back village by the sea. In understanding Portugal’s natural beauty, know they can protect it. They do so through eco-friendly developments like AZO.