Copenhagen-headquartered architecture practice founded by Bjarke Ingels in 2005. Lead architect of Fuse Valley in Leça do Balio, Matosinhos — a 178,000 sqm, 24-building tech campus developed by Castro Group, originally anchored by the Farfetch headquarters, with first phase targeted for the second half of 2026.
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the Copenhagen-founded practice behind some of the world’s most recognisable contemporary architecture, is the lead architect of Fuse Valley — the 178,000 sqm technology campus rising in Leça do Balio, Matosinhos, seven kilometres from central Porto. Developed by Portugal’s Castro Group, the masterplan organises 24 buildings in a checkerboard of landscaped courtyards, designed to accommodate around 10,000 workers, with the Farfetch headquarters as the original anchor occupier.
The project has weathered its anchor tenant’s turbulence. After Farfetch’s late-2023 crisis and sale to South Korea’s Coupang, Castro Group publicly committed that “Fuse Valley will have continuity, with or without Farfetch,” while negotiating a revised model with the new owners. Licensing delays pushed the first phase — roughly €200 million of investment — from late 2025 to the second half of 2026, with the second phase targeted for 2030.
Fuse Valley is the most visible Danish design export in Portugal — a Nordic signature on the skyline of Porto’s tech economy. For BIG it is a foothold in one of Southern Europe’s fastest-growing innovation hubs; for Matosinhos it is a bet that corridor-grade architecture attracts corridor-grade tenants.
2026: first phase targeted for delivery in the second half of the year following licensing delays; Castro Group continues talks with Farfetch’s owner Coupang over the anchor tenancy.
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