Casa Modesta

Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo

CASA MODESTA

Casa Modesta

ARCHITECTS
Casa Modesta

PHOTOS
Joao Carmo (31)

YEAR
2015

LOCATION
Quatrim do Sul, Moncarapacho, Portugal

TYPE
Hospitality + Sport › Hotel

At the beginning, there was a house at the Algarve region, in the south of Portugal.

Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo

It was from the 1940s, sober and looking at the salty lagoon.

The place contained two buildings, a water tank and a forested site.

Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo

The project aim was to renovate this ancient house into a rural hotel.

As a principle, we pursue the reinterpretation of vernacular culture by contemporary logic, using traditional materials.

Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo

More than a simple technical and aesthetic upgrade, the project reinterpreted the pre-existence house from its family memories.

The starting step was to keep the location and volumetry of the buildings, the relationship between the spaces of the house, as well as the relevant elements of the regional architecture: the tank, the flat roof terraces, the exterior stairs, the covered patio, the wood oven, the water cistern.

Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo

The project created autonomous rooms, integrated with the nuclear home (kitchen, living and dinning rooms), along with collective use spaces (workshops room, tank).

They were designed for the enjoyment of the local habits: the bath tubs are deep and designed like the southern public baths and fountains; each rooms has its own patio or roof terrace, all windows look at the lagoon.

The materials used are from close to the site and could have been there before the renovation: the regional clay tile; the red limestone; the cork as insulation, the brass hardware.

Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo

In the end, the house retains its own identity, intensified by the renovation project and by the experience of its inhabitants.


Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo


Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo


Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo
Casa Modesta
© Joao Carmo