casa-na-gateira_architecture_004

A Zig-Zagging Portuguese Holiday Home

Scroll

On the dramatic hillside landscape overlooking Serra da Estrla, Portugal’s highest mainland point, architects Camarim designed a split-level zig zag holiday home that mirrors the surrounding topography.

Prioritizing space, open flow and silence – in contrast to the clients’ busy everyday lives in London – the architects sought to balance the landscape with the agricultural nature and traditional architecture of the region. “Our strategy,” they explain, “was to interfere as little as possible: one enters the house in the upper part of the plot, through a wall that evokes the region’s traditional slate buildings, and descends onto the house’s core – a social space split in two levels.” Every room in the house connects directly to the outdoors, and the home’s patio and wooden shutters are both insulating and protective of the residents’ privacy.

"Our strategy was to interfere as little as possible."
casa-na-gateira_architecture_001
casa-na-gateira_architecture_002
casa-na-gateira_architecture_003
casa-na-gateira_architecture_004
casa-na-gateira_architecture_005
casa-na-gateira_architecture_006
casa-na-gateira_architecture_007
casa-na-gateira_architecture_008
casa-na-gateira_architecture_015
casa-na-gateira_architecture_018
casa-na-gateira_architecture_010
casa-na-gateira_architecture_011
casa-na-gateira_architecture_012
casa-na-gateira_architecture_013
casa-na-gateira_architecture_014
casa-na-gateira_architecture_020
casa-na-gateira_architecture_022
casa-na-gateira_architecture_024
casa-na-gateira_architecture_021
Exif_JPEG_PICTURE
Exif_JPEG_PICTURE

All images © Nelson Garrido, courtesy of Camarim

Subscribe To Our Newsletter
SIGN UP