Muda Reserve | Saraiva + Associados

Located in the village of Muda, in Comporta, the project proposes a new interpretation of the traditional Alentejo village and the building of a group of new houses and villas. Supporting the concept are values such as serenity, safety and celebration of life.

Muda Reserve combines a rural lifestyle with the convenience and values of modern life in a privileged location: an almost pristine natural environment provides an exceptional haven, an hour south of Lisbon, on 350 acres full of harmony and temperance.

The various volumes reproduce the village layout and are organised into four distinct language cores, safeguarding and recreating traditional rural heterogeneity. The pedestrian space between the volumes reflects the zigzagging of the alleyways in traditional villages and allows for a diversity of visual perspectives. A main square is also created, alongside other adjacent squares, inviting the inhabitants to meet and publicly enjoy the spaces.

The residential spaces are composed of different types: Courtyard Houses, Village Houses, Fragmented Houses, Chimney houses. Courtyard Houses configure houses between walls, in which the main feature is the interior patio; Chimney houses result from the reinterpretation of the chimney shape of the traditional Alentejo house with its typical roofs and elevations. Village Houses, on the other hand, are collective dwellings that build upon collective spaces that emerge in hidden corners of the development. At last, in the Fragmented Houses the intention was to create a volume where the boundaries between interior and exterior were diluted. To that extent we’ve designed a glass structural element - the corridor - fully integrated with the outside space.