A LIVELY URBAN ENSEMBLE FOR ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

PROJECT: FARFETCH HQ / FUSE VALLEY, PORTUGAL; COLLABORATORS: BJARKE INGELS GROUP (BIG), At the upcoming new headquarters of Farfetch in Porto, architect firm BIG has tailored each building to its specific programs within the community village of Fuse Valley

A leading global technology platform for luxury fashion, Farfetch seeks to further connect creators, curators and consumers in a new purpose-built urban fashion village in Portugal. Located on the slopes of the Leça River in Porto, the 178,000 sq m art-filled headquarter will feature 12 interconnected buildings that each represents the various elements of the company's organization. Tailored to each space, the design seeks to amplify the exchange of ideas between the different aspects of the organization and create new opportunities for the circa 3,000 Farfetch employees based in Portugal as well as visitors and locals.

Scheduled to break ground by early 2023 and open its doors in 2025, the new HQ will be situated within the larger Fuse Valley site, also designed by BIG. This site of 24 buildings will be home to various tech companies, startups and services. Conceived as a community village, Fuse Valley is organized around plazas, parks and courtyards, which are landscaped and programmed to extend the life inside the buildings to the outside. Like an urban fabric, the individual buildings rest on a series of urban terraces connecting the main road to the east, with the Leça River to the west.