House da Volta | Grândola
The villa stands in a remote area of south-west Alentejo, among the hills of Grândola, where the gentle undulation of the terrain contrasts with the harshness of a landscape marked by cork oaks, holm oaks and sparse vegetation. The project draws on the tradition of the Portuguese alcáçova: a complex enclosed by high walls that defines a space of protection and intimacy within a vast and isolated territory.
The house is conceived as a walled courtyard onto which three rectangular volumes face: to the north the suites, to the east the living area with lounge, kitchen and library, and to the west the garage and staff room. To the south a small orchard formally completes the courtyard space.
The communal areas follow a classical sequence: kitchen, living room and library, separated by large symmetrical sliding doors. A large fireplace wall divides the dining room from the living area.
Inside, whitened structural timber beams, white stucco-plastered walls and concrete floors dominate. Outside, the house is clad in white lime stone masonry, with pan-tile cappings that suggest a pitched roof which in reality does not exist. The roughness of the lime surfaces and the geometric purity of the volumes give the house a vernacular and archaic character, reinterpreted in an abstract and contemporary key.
Year
2021
Architecture Studio
PROMONTORIO, in co-authorship with João Cravo
Photography
Luis Viegas, Alexandre Ramos
