The house, designed for a couple with two children, is distributed over three floors and set on a rectangular plot with good sun exposure and privileged views of Santa Maria da Feira Castle.
Two adjacent roads at different levels provide pedestrian and vehicular access, taking advantage of the plot’s natural slope. The pedestrian entrance is at the highest level, leading to the house entrance through a canopy on the northeast façade. This façade, facing the street, is deliberately more closed off for privacy.
The basement garage is accessed via a slight ramp from the street to the southeast. The basement also includes storage and technical areas and a space for storing the owner’s hunting and fishing gear.
The social and leisure areas of the house are located on the ground floor, maximizing the relationship with the exterior and the solar quadrant: East/South, with views of the castle, and South/West, opening onto the garden and a patio sheltered by a canopy, providing an outdoor living and dining area.
The first floor is dedicated to the intimate areas, comprising two bedrooms with shared bathrooms for the children and an office/study room, all facing southwest, while the master suite faces southeast.
The house is characterized by the use of exposed concrete on the basement level and white plaster on the upper floors, contrasted with wood paneling. The canopies emphasize horizontality and add dynamism to the structure, breaking up the rectangularity imposed by the site’s geometry.
The aim was to create a homogeneous volumetric and formal set, with materials distinguishing each floor, resulting in a dynamic and less compact structure.
Fact File
Project name: Casa R.P.
Firm Name: Atelier d’Arquitectura Lopes da Costa
Architect Name: José António Lopes da Costa e Tiago Meireles
Location: Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal
Total area: 492 m2.
Photo credit: Ivo Tavares Studio
