Architecture: Miguel Marcelino
Instagram: @miguelmarcelino.arq
Facebook: @miguelmarcelino.arq
Collaborators: Pedro Dourado
Structural and Plumbing Engineering: Pedro Monteiro
Electrical Engineering: Orlando Sousa
Landscape Design: Ana Amaro
Phases: 2009-2010 (project)
2010-2012 (construction)
General Contractor: Campelo & Campelo
Gross Floor Area: 282m2
Gross Volume: 854m3
Building Footprint: 173m2
Site Area: 2175m2
Energy Efficiency Class: A+
Location: Vila Nova de Santo Estêvão, Benavente, Portugal
Client: Private client
Photographs: FG+SG | Fernando Guerra
The lot is located in the middle of a “montado” landscape, being the best views to the north with a lake and the skyline punctuated by cork oak trees.
The house is organized in a compact volume of two floors, complemented by three courtyards all different in size and features. A first large courtyard, enclosed, intimate, is situated on the south side, embracing a big existing cork oak. Next to the back entrance, there is another, smaller patio, for service.
The third courtyard works as a key element in the relationship between the home and the north side – it’s a slim space with a large horizontal opening that frames the landscape – it has an atmosphere of an “outdoors inner space”, the light is soft, by reflection on the outer wall that receives direct sunlight. This vertical courtyard communicates with a staircase that leads to an open terrace, the last element of the sequence of spaces, patios, and atmospheres that go from more introspective and private to more open and exterior.
