The high level of tourist and scientific interest in Europe’s the largest natural dome did not match the conditions offered to the visitors of Sulphur Cavern, ex-libris Graciosa Island.
Entering the volcano caldera means going beyond the border of a different and timeless space; its experience will provide hours of enjoyment and pleasure and will ultimately lead us to its interior, the interior of the earth.
Arriving on foot, balancing the gaze from the ground to the sky, soaking up the scent and the silence of the place, all of this is possible due to the preparation well-made in 1939. This is the process selected for the enjoyment of the site: arriving on foot or by the initial footpath, by the old road, or by the water line leading to the building and the cavern; there are three options that provide different perspectives, and naturally build different initiations.
Redoing platforms, stairs and walls, molding the land stating the construction, combining traditional techniques and materials with contemporary language, creating a device able to control access and provide information and enhancing the understanding of the place, these are some of the prerequisites of the program.

Intervening highlighting nature, that is, to promote integration as perfect as possible between constructed and natural is the challenge that we’re trying to answer.
Deployed at the site of the old container, lined by craters, built on the platform of delivery, suspended above the water line and tear on the surface, the building comes naturally visible, transparent and present, not imposed.

The glass building with two floors, where the ground floor buried in the platform contains sanitary facilities and the exhibition area. Located on the top floor are the foyer area, inside the cavern the visitors’ control and the air quality, the toilets for disabled people and the area reserved for the dissemination, awareness and observation of the landscape.
Outside and in front of the building, in the old car park, lies a living area with tables and chairs, for the enjoyment of this unique place. Given the restrictions of access, under the control of air quality, visitors can watch from the roof of the building, projected on the platform cavern, tears on the surface and partially absorb the magic of the place.