Located in the outskirts of Guimarães, Northern Portugal, there stands an intriguing 450 square metre home that beds deep down into the green landscape. As is typical in a subdivision of this peripheral area, this is a dense built environment that restricts the plot. In the initial stage of design for this home, there were […]

Located in the outskirts of Guimarães, Northern Portugal, there stands an intriguing 450 square metre home that beds deep down into the green landscape. As is typical in a subdivision of this peripheral area, this is a dense built environment that restricts the plot. In the initial stage of design for this home, there were concerns about privacy, especially in achieving an indoor-outdoor flow for living. In answer to the conundrum, the architect team at REM’A set the ground floor of the home into the Earth, and explored the use of internal voids to force privacy. Externally, patios promote social use, and extend the living area greatly once vast glass doors are fully retracted.
The home is divided into two floors. Looking at this side of the modern exterior, there is little hint that the patio is laid lower than the surrounding hillside, or that it is only the solid top volume that gives away the homes location on the approach.

The pool patio is very much a part of the home, a natural extension of the main living room.

Vast glass doors make and break the living link between inside and out?but there is always the view.

Concrete wal...