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House in Arcos de Valdevez

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Between Ponte da Barca and Ponte de Lima, on the right bank of the Lima River, an unoccupied plot sits on a gentle slope. It is framed by a dense tree mass – made up of oaks, pines, eucalyptus and chestnut trees—which define its boundaries and add a clear sense of unity to the place.

The most favorable area for the house is located at a midpoint, where the topography bends more sharply and from where one can look intently towards the southwest quadrant – the boundary where the edge opens onto the mountains that, from afar, constitute the fundamental geographical reference point.

The strategy seeks, in short, to reconcile a restricted program with the long distance between the access and the desired location, making the most out of little. A set of extensive walls tensioned by buildings at the ends and in the bends provide an order and establish the place for the different recreational spaces, which combine the leisure and productive places typical of the farms in the region – all contributing to the emergence of an extended access route, which precedes the arrival at the focal point of the complex: a wooden pavilion stands out prominently over the valley and the landscape.

The different construction systems adopted here – prefabricated concrete blocks in the extended complex and wood in the pavilion – seek the best fit for the two different circumstances.

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architecture

Pedro Matos Gameiro

design team

Raquel Batista Pereira, João Bacalhau, Rafaela Matos,

Quirino Júlio, Leonor Nunes

landscape architecture

Raquel Batista Pereira

client

private commision

project year

2025 - ...

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