HOUSE IN COLARES

Colares, Portugal

Concept Design

400 sqm

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A private weekend house, on the coast of Portugal, in the Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais, just between the Lighthouse of Cabo da Roca and the Santuário da Peninha.

The site is a cliff facing the Atlantic ocean, and the topography is a platform for contemplation. The plan of the house is based on the manipulation of a Romanic chapel, a single space.

When it comes to the openings, 3.2m squared windows frames the landscape and let light invading the core of the space. The orientation of the house begun with East-West direction as per religious reference, then rotated back to align with the existing path on-site, favouring the passage towards down the cliff.

As the house would be for short living periods, it has one single point of fire: the fireplace, and one single point of water: the tank.

A house that is a chapel.