Casa no Meco | Aldeia do Meco, Portugal

Modern tradition

The project is a single-family house located in a small Portuguese village in the south of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. Its rural character embodied by low and traditional constructions is affected by out-of-scale buildings from the 1980s, informing the new design.

Architectural Form

The existing buildings guide the project, whose aim is to replace the original house with a contemporary residence strategically positioned within the area to avoid direct exposure to the immediate neighborhoods. The design follows the village’s architectural identity as well as the plot’s longitudinal shape, creating a simple, minimal building with a pitched roof.

Functional Organization

Programmatically, the project is divided in two clear zones: the service spaces -bathrooms, closets, circulation areas, kitchen- are located on the northern side of building, where the facades are composed of small openings to ensure privacy from the main road. To the south, the living room, office and bedrooms gradually open up towards the garden through a series of large windows, while the array of different ceiling heights, create different experiential moments within the space.

Material Palette

The materials and construction techniques follow the local traditions found in mediterranean villages. Hydraulic mosaic tiles and wood are used for the interior flooring, enhancing the natural light entering the building, while a divider made of stone is constructed in-between the street and the residence, unifying the complex and connecting the parking area to a vertical volume -a clear allusion to the original oven house.