Atelier d’Arquitectura Lopes da Costa: Designed for a couple with two children, the house is distributed over three floors and is set on a rectangular plot with good sun exposure and privileged views of Santa Maria da Feira Castle.
Pedestrian and vehicular access is via the two roads adjacent to the plot, at different levels, taking advantage of its natural slope. The pedestrian access is located at the highest level, leading to the house entrance through a canopy on the north-east façade. As it faces the street, this façade is deliberately more closed off. The basement garage is accessed by a slight ramp from the street to the south-east. At the basement were also located storage and technical areas as well as a space for storing hunting and fishing gear, the owner's hobby.
The social and leisure areas of the house were located on the ground floor, making the most of the relationship with the exterior and the solar quadrant: East/South, enjoying views of the castle, and South/West, opening onto the garden and a patio sheltered by a canopy, enjoying an outdoor living and dining area. The first floor is the intimate area, comprising two bedrooms with shared bathrooms for the couple's children and an office/study room, all facing south-west, and the master suite facing south-east.
The house is characterised by the use of exposed concrete on the basement level, and by white plaster on the upper floors, which contrasts with the wood panelling. The canopies emphasise the horizontality and add dynamism to the whole, breaking up the rectangularity of the building, imposed by the geometry of the site. The aim was to create a homogeneous volumetric and formal set, in which the materials distinguish each floor, resulting in a dynamic and less compact structure.
