Roman Ruins Shelter of Tróia

The ruins of Tróia, on the mouth of the Sado River, are one of the most important archaeological nucleuses of Roman occupation in Portugal. Allegedly, this industrial compound produced salted and potted sardines to be exported for the rest of the empire, active between the end of the 1^st-century BC and the middle of the 3^rd-century AD. Aside from a disfigured 18^th-century church, remnants of a small Early-Christian basilica with fine frescos indicate that this was also a place of cult and pilgrimage. In the 19th-century, a Romantic summer villa was built with an odd proximity to this ensemble.

The project consists in the design of a light shelter that can protect the remains of the basilica and its nartex from erosion, without changing the natural condition of humidity. This shelter is made of a laminated wood structure walled by a double layer of wood studs, offset in order to let air pass through but not the rain, wind or direct sun. Inside, a series of filtered skylights are strategically placed to highlight the most notable points of the remnants.