Atelier Data

House in Praia Grande

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

House in Praia Grande

Atelier Data

ARCHITECTS
Atelier Data

LOCATION
Colares, Portugal

CATEGORY
Houses

AREA
428 m²

YEAR
2022

LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Polen

ENGINEERING
Green Heritage

PROJECT TEAM
Filipe Rodrigues, Inês Vicente, Marta Frazão, António Faria, Filipa Neiva, Paulo Jorge Dias, Rafael Gomes

Integrated into the national park of Sintra-Cascais, the house is located near the Praia Grande beach, in Rodízio, Colares. The project aims to build the space (of the house) from the void created between the pine trees, based on the idea of fusion/alliance between the built element and the natural space.

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

The starting point – the existing pine trees – generated a volumetric composition of different volumes, where each of these volumes corresponds to different types of usage.

Its disposition on the ground takes into account the sun's orientation, the topography, and the position of the trees (that were meant to keep) providing, at the same time, a system of visual relations with the Serra de Sintra - located to the east.

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

The volumes are strategically organized around a central empty clearing that receives the water plane (swimming pool) and is marked by it, creating a controlled space dominated by nature that invites the family to inhabit the outside, where the inclined roofs of the different volumes converge.

The need to release/lift the volumes from the ground – given the porous and permeable consistency of the terrain – contributed, in addition, to the organicity of the built composition, whose suspension of the elements is reinforced by the vegetation that develops under them.

From a landscaping point of view, the challenge then focused on maintaining the existing pine forest, aiming to enhance it as a cohesive element that acts as a usable garden and scenery for the interior of the house.

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

PROGRAMMATIC DISTRIBUTION.

Programmatic-wise, the house has a parking area; a service area where the laundry, pantries, kitchen (both backstage and social spaces), and washroom are located; a social area that absorbs, in a single space, the living room, dining area, and piano room; three bedrooms, one of them for flexible use (office); and, finally, the technical areas that are located under the living room, taking advantage of the uneven terrain and suspension of the volume.

MATERIAL OPTIONS. The house incorporated materials that ensured a raw and, somehow, rough appearance, in line with the project’s organicity, without failing, however, to distinguish itself as a mass built in dialogue with the surroundings.

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

The volumes are covered on the outside by fluted metal sheets, finished with a grayish projected cork whose texture, shape, and tone provide a natural and irregular appearance (matching the verticality and presence of the pine trees), facilitating the flow of raining water towards the ground.

At the same time, this facade composition ensures, right at the start, good thermic and acoustic insulation.

Glass surfaces emerge around the outside clearing, from which visual relations between the indoors and outdoors are established.

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

On these glazed surfaces, that make up the distribution walkways, continuous wooden shutters are placed providing a warm and comfortable atmosphere, visible from the inside, filtering the intense sun exposure towards the south.

Wood is also introduced in the interior, appearing on the doors, carpentries, and ceilings. In the big living room – the main area of the house – its presence is enhanced by the creation of a coffered ceiling which, in addition to guaranteeing the acoustic performance of the space, promotes a truly special and particular ambiance.

All the floors and interior walls are finished in light gray micro cement, whose luminosity and simplicity – an abstract texture, without any type of pattern or standout visual – contrasts with the exuberance noted on the outside, allowing to accommodate the family’s special collection pieces.

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

ECOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION. The house also adopted a set of ecological principles in its construction, such as:

Reduction in resource consumption through the adopted building system, which includes a structure integrally made in sustainable wood, assembled in situ;

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

A ventilated facade system that benefits from a first layer finished with projected cork (simultaneously enhancing aesthetics, durability and thermal comfort); Exhaustive use of natural materials, such as hemp and cork, at all levels of construction;

Reduced and controlled use of energy, possible by the exploration of passive systems and decentralized ventilation systems with heat recovery, allowing maximum comfort without the need to rely on air conditioning or any other systems with greater consumption rate;

House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour

Selection of non-toxic materials, non-contaminating or susceptible to the release of chemicals (either in the process of construction itself or during the usable life of the material/finishing/element) which includes options for natural paints and absence of toxic varnishes;

Preference over options obtained from an ecological and sustainable process; Principle of durability and low maintenance, favoring solutions in which Architecture and Construction work in symbiosis and guarantee the longevity and quality of the solutions.


House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour
House in Praia Grande
© Richard John Seymour


House in Praia Grande
Site plan
House in Praia Grande
Plan


House in Praia Grande
Conceptual Diagram
House in Praia Grande
Axo


House in Praia Grande
Section
House in Praia Grande
Elevation


House in Praia Grande
Context

Atelier Data
T +351 218 123838
Atelier Data
R. São José 17, 1150-321 Lisboa, Portugal