House in Santo Estevão, Benavente

 

The house is implanted in a 1.000 sqm corner plot that, like in other similar situations, is uncharacteristic in its definition, only referenced by the presence of a magnificent sole tree in one of its limits. It’s an one floor volume, almost completely covered with a pine wood layer forming a grid in the less comfort demanding spaces. Only the south top opens towards the swimming pool and the garden, revealing concrete walls and roof to define a covered exterior area that mediates the transition. The living room is the center of the house, connecting the garden with the northern patio that preserves the possibility to use an exterior private space. The living room is the main area, the axis by which the entire house is drawn: bedrooms to one side, kitchen, entrance and office to the other. This spaces open throughout a unified system of horizontal windows to confuse the scale. A system of 8 mechanical awnings is installed in strategic positions on the roof, with wind and luminosity sensors. This system allows the facades to change throughout the day. The owner, an airplane pilot, likes the house to have wings.

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architecture

Pedro Matos Gameiro (coordination) and Carlos Crespo

design team

Gonçalo Pinheiro, Artur Cabral

structures

João Paulo Cardoso - PRPC, engenheiros

hidraulics

Pedro Romano - PRPC, engenheiros

electrical engineering

António Trindade - ATSE, serviços de engenharia

gas

Luis Pedro Moura Fernandes

project year

1999-2002

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