Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown

The Champalimaud Foundation is in the process of constructing a research centre to fulfill its objective of developing biomedical research activities in Portugal.

The Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown will be a multidisciplinary centre for translational research of excellence, with the best possible conditions to attract and retain the best researchers, academics and medical doctors from Portugal and abroad in the fields of neurosciences and oncology. The Champalimaud Research Centre will include laboratories for basic and clinical research, an ambulatory care centre, a vivarium, an auditorium, conference rooms, teaching facilities and an exhibition area.

The state of the art facilities for basic and clinical research and for teaching will foster front line research in molecular biology, genetics, immunology, neurosciences and behaviour, and oncology, as well as post-graduate and doctorate programmes, and the diagnosis and treatment of neurological and cancer patients.

The Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown will be located in a beautiful site of 60,000m2 in an exclusive zone of Lisbon, on the waterfront of Pedrouços, near the magnificent Tower of Belém. This area, where the river Tagus meets the Atlantic Ocean, is of great historical significance as the great Portuguese pioneers sailed from this location to discover the “unknown” in the XV and XVI centuries.  The presence of the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown will leverage this historical heritage by creating an inspirational link between the discoveries of yesteryear and the epic adventure of scientific research.

In order to honour the historical relevance of the site and to promote the relationship of the citizens with the sea and the “unknown”, the research centre will allow free access of the public to the waterfront through wide landscaped areas around its buildings.

The project of the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown by the architect Charles Correa expresses and reinforces the objectives of fostering scientific excellence and of celebrating the discoveries, while generously allowing the access and enjoyment of the area to the general public.

The Champalimaud Centre comprises 2 buildings and a large public area:

- Building A, housing the diagnostic and treatment units in the lower levels and the basic research laboratories in the upper levels.

- Building B, hosting the Auditorium, the Exhibition Area, and a Restaurant on the entrance level On the upper level are the offices of the Champalimaud Foundation which are connected to building A by an elegant glass bridge.

- Public area, comprising public gardens and an open air amphitheatre facing the river.

The buildings are arranged in such a way to create a 125 m long pedestrian pathway leading diagonally across the site, towards the open seas. This pathway is on an incline so that when walking upwards one can see only the sky ahead. At the top of the ramp there are two stone monoliths, straight from the quarry. When one reaches the highest point, a large body of water is visible which appears to connect to the ocean beyond. In the centre of the water body, just below the surface, is an oval shaped stainless steel object, slightly convex so that it reflects the blue sky and the passing clouds above; it could be anything – the back of a turtle, a tropical island, a treasure chest…, all included in the mythic adventure that inspired the discoveries.