JV House in Murtal

Description

The house was located of Murtal hillside, on a high slope. The land lot would have had unique views over Estoril and Cascais sea coast, if it hadn’t been for the Parede’s “Gardens”, a massive-built urbanization born meanwhile, which has raised 9-storey apartment buildings between single-family houses and the beach.

The still beautiful panoramic coast view is now rudely half-blocked by the aforementioned buildings.

The land lot is part of a partitioning connected to the “Gardens”, and is included in a set of 4 partitions, fairly generous in size (nearly 900m2), parallel to each other. With access through the higher ground, it is hard to build on these narrow and deep lots, of 40% inclination.
This unusual configuration reverses the typical and conventional interior distribution: you enter through the top floor, the garage has the best views and the bedrooms are in the lower floor, meeting the garden.

The house body is condensed by the mandatory distances in a long and compact volume, with a half-buried end and another salient in the air. This body is divided in half in order to support the whole structure and to articulate the internal distribution of the different indoor spaces, confirming once more its elongated condition.

Seen from the street, the house seems small and limited to ground level. One can easily see over the roof, and therefore this element gains utmost relevance.  From the pool above to the lowest floor, the house stretches and appears to have 4 storeys.

Laddering northwards in landings excavated on the hillside, the house adapts itself and manages to fit into the ground. A vertical patio brightens and expands the compact staircase leading to all floors. The indoor spaces open spans into platforms to the west and to the east.
Over the sea, to the south, the wall opens up in glass to the common areas, enjoying the view and natural light.

Attending to the limitations and difficulties that have limited our choices and ways, this is maybe a project on the obvious.