Rural House in Portugal

HBG Architects

Project description

The brief was to transform an ancient community oven into a comfortable, single bedroom vacation house, with space to gather the family when needed. The original construction was a small single-story volume, with thick exposed granite walls and a gable roof, located in a well-preserved village in the rural centre of Portugal. A walled area complemented the property. The region has very cold winters and stifling summers. The intervention should provide ease of use in both situations. The project raises the external walls to the alignment of the adjoining construction, allowing for a bigger volumetry and the possibility to build a mezzanine. An austere exterior, materialized in granite, blends gently with the surrounding constructions, but contrasts with a clearly contemporary interior, delicately shaped into a cosy, warm, and comfortable space, that presents a surprising luminosity. A loft-like interior gathers kitchen, living, and eating areas into a single space at the entry level, while the intimate areas are harboured in a mezzanine. The main focal element of the entire intervention is the customised stair-bench-table-fireplace, that sets all the rules for the construction. Light input is carefully controlled through wall and zenithal openings, producing dramatic effects on the bush-hammered stone, and on the customized wooden elements that proliferate in the house, changing its ambience throughout the day. The walled patio includes a shed, a garden, a few trees and a small pond.