House in São Lourenço

In São Lourenço, on a steeply sloping site with a sea view, a house from the 1950s is altered and extended. The proposal starts from what is there: it restores the original house, of contained and symmetrical character, and adds to it a new body that converses with the ground, with the existing walls and with the landscape.

The extension is organised on a platform at the intermediate level, linking the interior of the house to the garden. Because it rests partly on an existing wall and requires minimal excavation, the new volume lifts free of the ground on pilotis, a gesture that preserves the topography and opens the site to the views. Its flat roof works as a generous living terrace facing the sea, replacing the expression of pitched tiled roofs with a horizontal reading that makes the most of the place.

The rehabilitation of the existing house keeps its layout and its language, intervening only in what makes it clearer and more habitable. Materials, forms and techniques close to the originals are recovered, notably the timber-clad wall that structures the elevation and runs through the concept of the project. Outside, the grounds are modelled into platforms for use, between sitting and recreation areas, and a footpath secures the link to the beach, stitching the house to its place.