A brand woven into a greater heritage.
Burel Factory is a Portuguese brand, born in the Serra da Estrela mountain range, dedicated to the preservation and regeneration of industrial heritage, the profound knowledge of the wool industry that spans generations, and the unique culture and traditions that punctuate that place, its people, and its history. From the heart of the mountains, it promotes the mastery of knowledge, the art made by many hands that warp, card, spin, and weave on ancestral machines whose sounds have been heard since the 19th century, whose rhythm and beauty enchant us. It ensures the legacy of wool and burel through design, art, and textile and scientific innovation, weaving with the threads of the past a sustainable, circular, and more authentic vision of the future. And it does so out of a deep sense of commitment.
House of the Golden Rocks
Burel Expedition Hotel
Saint Lawrence's House
Burel Panorama Hotel
Burel Factory
In the construction of Casa das Penhas Douradas, we sought to find elements that highlighted the mastery of the Serra region: burel (a type of coarse wool fabric), wool, and its centuries-old connection to the local culture. That's when we discovered the Lanifícios Império factory. The factory discovered us, and we discovered burel, which we then sought to develop and use in the hotel's decoration. It was then that we realized the factory was facing insolvency, unable to adapt to the demands of the time. Carrying a textile heritage that transcends us, we couldn't let it disappear—neither its people nor its knowledge.
Mountain Artisans.
We decided to move forward with a process of restoring and purchasing the factory to continue its story and showcase its art to the world. Today it is the Burel Factory in Manteigas. We kept the 19th-century machines, recycled some patterns from old design books that we still use in some blankets, and began to add color to the burel, which until now only existed in the original wool colors.
We put the old masters of the looms to work teaching the younger ones, in order to increase the passing of the baton and prevent this art from dying out. We move forward with proposals, weave ideas, and explore designs on the old looms. And we arrive at pieces whose design, finish, and unique details become the body and testament to the invaluable heritage that only a 'slow production' can guarantee.
From the Mountain to the City
In 2009 we went down to Lisbon to show what we had created. We opened a small pop-up store that quickly attracted attention for its uniqueness and boldness in presenting a traditional, ancestral raw material applied to innovative design pieces.
And this quickly propelled us to open Burel Chiado in 2012, on Rua Serpa Pinto, which we still maintain today, and which will now be completely focused on the fashion and accessories segment. In 2015 we debuted in Porto, on Rua de Mouzinho da Silveira, with a large store in the historic center, next to Ribeira.
In 2017 we returned to Lisbon to open a new store dedicated solely to architectural and cladding solutions, in order to continue our focus on this segment. It's Burel Arquitetura on Rua do Ferragial.
The following year, in 2018, we were in Serra da Estrela with a new restoration project: back in 2016 we had already bought the iconic Pousada de São Lourenço, which was dilapidated and abandoned.
It was time to move forward with a new project to restore the building and all its history within its interiors.
We opened the hotel overlooking the mountain panorama, in a clear homage to the Serra's greatest asset, its landscape. We combined historical elements found there with contemporary pieces by Portuguese artists and designers, and we used burel (a type of woolen wool fabric) in its interiors as a main element in design and art, to elevate, disseminate and value it, while taking advantage of its thermal and acoustic properties, promoting sustainability through things as simple as giving new life to a centuries-old product. Today it is Casa de São Lourenço, a 5-star hotel at 1250 meters altitude.
"Ultimately, we are restorers of heritage, both tangible and intangible. That is our mission. Without a past, we have no future. We want to value it through innovation, which is what truly matters."
In 2021, we were surprised to learn that one of Covilhã's most emblematic wool processing factories was also facing insolvency. We decided to intervene and proceeded with its acquisition, ensuring the continuity of one of the city's main industries.
While it caused us to halt the entire wool transformation process, from dyeing to finishing—processes that are crucial for burel to be burel—A Transformadora was born.
This year we opened our third store in Lisbon, Burel Chiado Home. A space focused on interior design, on the timeless comfort of blankets, cushions, rugs, curtains, paintings, and designer furniture pieces that elevate art and beauty, combining functionality with aesthetics, sustainability with design, and history with innovation, starting from the apparent simplicity of wool's nature and all the science that encompasses it.
A path marked by resilience and innovation has led us to our latest venture: the first clothing collection under the Burel Factory brand, made of conscious, colorful, and timeless pieces. Pieces that reflect the entire history of burel, our factory, and the historical lexicon of wool. Clothes with meaning, made to last, embodying the heritage of the Portuguese mountains and centuries-old textile knowledge — now available in the renovated Burel Chiado and Burel Porto stores.
Preservation. Regeneration. Innovation.
Today, we are a brand that represents a lifestyle connected to the mountains, but with our eyes on the world, innovating through design, the science behind wool, sustainability, the history of a people, and the simplicity that nature teaches us.
We promote and elevate the culture of an inland region, generating jobs and attracting skilled labor to the area, encouraging its economic and social development. We promote Portugal. We innovate in the use of a historical fabric to make it a scientifically certified solution in the field of acoustics, without detracting from the merit and beauty of its application in fashion and decoration.
We elevate wool to art, burel (a type of coarse wool fabric) to culture, and the Serra da Estrela mountain range to a destination. We are governed by a strict zero-waste policy, even before that concept became a concept, coupled with good environmental practices, while respecting the mountain that gave us our origin and knowledge. "Ultimately, we are restorers of heritage, both tangible and intangible. That is our mission. Without a past, we have no future. We want to value it with innovation, which is what really matters."
