Milheiros house

The visit we made to this land was inspiring and fundamental in developing this proposal. We couldn’t help but be moved by the natural beauty of the surroundings and the qualities of the existing buildings. The presence of 4 ruins shaped the strategy for this project. The harmony and scale of these 4 buildings, perfectly hierarchical among themselves, led us to maintain and reinforce that hierarchy in our proposal. Therefore, the proposal follows the shape and scale of the existing buildings and establishes a dialogue between the new and the old. In all interventions, the proposal adapts to the characteristics of the place and seeks to take advantage of its qualities. Our strategy aimed to respect the main elevation of the existing buildings, paying homage to the memory and design of local architecture. Thus, from the front of the lot, it may not be immediately apparent that behind these stone walls, now uncovered and presented in all their splendour of tone and texture, a new building appears in a modern language, forming a strong relationship with the landscape. Regarding materials – not only for this building but for all the others – we chose exposed concrete to identify the new constructions, establishing a strong dialogue between stone (an ancestral material) and concrete (a material of modern construction). However, for the main house, we also decided to use wood as a covering material, applied throughout the upper floor. This choice was made to accentuate the hierarchy of the buildings and contribute to a greater humanization of the building, given its scale, as it is the only one with 2 floors.