Sulim’s history

Portugal needed an Industrial Park, like the ones appearing in other developed countries. The country was starting to become a destiny for many foreign companies that needed large factories and warehouses with as few pillars as possible to facilitate circulation in its interior.

Location was of the utmost importance and the park needed an infrastructure of roads large enough for heavy trucks to manoeuvre. Since there were little to none infrastructures with these characteristics, in 1966 this ambitious project was kick-started.

At Alto da Bela Vista, because of its fertility, there were large agricultural fields that served Lisbon’s markets. After an agricultural crisis, people were abandoning this activity, therefore vacating the ideal location for this industrial park.

The techniques needed to build with reinforced concrete where not known by the Portuguese, yet only this type of construction would make possible to build pavilions with the necessary conditions in a short time span. João Madeira Costa’s choice in using this technique meant, not only, a great deal of research was needed but also represented a large investment in imported construction machinery and in a 4.000m2 shipyard. It was there that the first reinforced concrete block walls were made.