M-Arquitectos have upgraded a popular thermal bathing attraction on Portugal’s Sao Miguel Island, adding a new 67sq m (721sq ft) timber-clad visitors’ centre and a pair of stone-lined pools, which opened to the public last month.

The natural Poca da Dona Beija hot springs have always been popular with the locals, but about a decade ago, two pools and facilities were built to improve the conditions.

This year, M-Arquitectos added a bathing pool, foot bath, ticket box, gift shop, storage space, and washroom. They also re-paved the paths and added a wooden walk bridge to connect the south shore, where the existing pools were, to the north shore, where the two new pools are located.

“Resizing the natural area had to be in harmony with the surroundings,” architect Rodgrigo Sequeira Dias Filipe told Spa Opportunities. “The pools’ location and the materials seek the perfect symbiosis with nature.”

The first thermal pool was the result of one small waterfall, and each new pool has been built with its own small waterfall to reflect that heritage, said Sequeira Dias Filipe. The paths, wooden bridge and entrance are all made from cryptomeria, a local wood, while the pools are made from basalt, a native volcanic stone.

The project cost around €200,000 ($220,519; £141,731).