topos atelier de arquitectura: house in alcobaca, portugal

‘house in alcobaca’ by topos atelier de arquitectura, alcobaca, portugalimage © xavier antunesall images courtesy of topos atelier de arquitectura

the client’s bewilderment with the natural portugese countryside led local architecture firm topos atelier de arquitectura to design the‘house in alcobaca’ with the lowest possible profile that would bring out the beauty of the horizontal landscape. the approach to the sitereveals little more than subtle orthogonal elements embedded into the ground, suggesting a trail over a cultured grassy terrain towards the entry stairs that follow the descending contour of the property. the home is organized linearly into a simple rectangle, with a long hallwayon the northern end and large sliding glass panels on the south that extend views out over the the fields and provide access to the pool. the characteristic white-painted concrete creates a large horizontal plane that creates a vertical threshold between the public areas above,and a void allowing access to the inset private spaces beneath.

profile in the landscapeimage © xavier antunes

green drivewayimage © xavier antunes

edge of propertyimage © xavier antunes

walkway to entranceimage © xavier antunes

stairs leading down to the northern elevation and entranceimage © xavier antunes

southern facadeimage © xavier antunes

overhanging roof shades the interiorimage © xavier antunes

exterior patioimage © xavier antunes

view from the interior towards swimming poolimage © xavier antunes

kitchen area – tile floors keep the inside coolimage © xavier antunes

site plan

site plan

floor plan / level 0

section

section

section

section

elevation

elevation

project info:

design agency: topos atelier de arquitectura, ldacountry: portugalarchitects: jean pierre porcher, margarida oliveira and albino freitascollaborators: sofia lima, michael ferreiraarea: 270.00 m2completion date: 2011