Located in Estoril, Lisbon’s most cosmopolitan neighborhood, this charming house was designed by a famous architect Joao Tiago Aguiar and offers breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean.
A new expansion, along with the whole renovation of this contemporary structure, is used to create open, airy and very practical spaces for generating new impressions and interpretations about the space as a whole. The challenge was to design an appropriate space in which its residents could feel comfortable and happy & combines architecture and living space.
The house has two floors, a swimming pool, a garage, a porch, and several outbuildings which include a game room, a laundry, and more storage rooms. With this information in mind, the architectural design essentially combines these uses by connecting the garage with the main building to create another floor with storage spaces and an apartment for guests. This new body, besides allowing to park and enter directly into the house, expands the useful area on both floors and introduces another architectural narrative.
The new construction is much larger than the original. This is embellished by panels that resemble tiles that cover the brick structure of the façade. The panels apply a graphic pattern much like those found traditional Portuguese tiling. The sliding openings are covered by similar phenolic panels which help to shade the interior and serve as an added security measure.
On the inside, the designer decided to maintain its original spatial organization. A private area was placed on the upper floor and a social one on the lower floor. A small winter garden below the stairs which give access from the ground-floor to the 1st floor and vice-versa was designed.
To provide greater comfort and living quality, all the changes on the upper floor were designed keeping these assumptions in mind. Such as the design of a new master suite and an additional living zone, built thanks to the demolition of another room wall. The access to this pleasant area is made directly from the naturally enlightened and ventilated corridor. On the other hand, the closet and ensuite bathroom of an old suite were transformed into a new bedroom, while a new master suite was designed in the new volume of the house.
The elevations underwent few modifications, except the one that was demolished to build the said expansion. At the same time, others underwent aesthetic and functional processes concerning claddings of windows and railings on balconies with a more contemporary and soft design.
A “tailor-made” telescopic cover was designed and developed for the swimming pool to allow its use throughout the year and not only in the summer with the same traditional Portuguese tiles pattern that coats the new volume, providing a greater equilibrium and an overall perception between the original house and the new constructions.
A tailor-made fabric cover was designed and developed to allow the swimming pool to be used throughout the year with Portuguese tiles, providing a greater sense of harmony between the original house and the new volume. As part of the architectural design strategy, an old Portuguese tile will cover nearly 90% of this extension. It is particularly noticeable in the top floor living room/master suite, where it appears uniformly on all walls, while creating an illusion that opens up to a larger space that extends out through the main windows toward one of Lisbon’s most emblematic open spaces Polé.
Fact Sheet:
Architect Firm Name: João Tiago Aguiar, arquitectos
Project location: Estoril, Portugal
Area: 631m2
Architect Name: João Tiago Aguiar
Project team: Susana Luis, Rúben Mateus, João Nery Morais, André Ferreira, Maria Sousa Otto, Diogo Romão, Samanta Cardoso Menezes, Nuno Sequeira, Constança Lino, Francisco Duarte, Renata Vieira
Engineering: Neoget
Landscaping: Sofia Raimundo
Builder: Wallternative
Photograph credits: FG+SG – Architecture Photograph
