Lameira House | João Pedro Pedrosa

Located close to the city of Fátima, but already integrated into an environment with fundamentally rural characteristics, this single-family house appears as an intervention that respects and enhances the surrounding natural landscape, as well as the characteristics of the land on which it is located. The project considers the premises established by the owners, with emphasis on the enhancement of natural light, the guarantee of privacy in both interior and exterior spaces, spatial flexibility and the primacy of the use of natural materials, such as handcrafted solid brick that covers the facades of the building. Externally, brick is the material with the greatest protagonism, combined with the natural wood of the window frames and ceilings and with the hand-arranged stone of the fence walls and the irregular flagstones on the floors, giving the work a tactile character, where the different textures of the materials are highlighted, applied using artisanal and local techniques.

The house is essentially composed of a simple volume, in the shape of an “L”, from which the voids corresponding to the exterior covered spaces are removed, being located on the land in order to safeguard a harmonious integration with the existing afforestation – composed of holm oaks, olive trees and pine trees – providing a balance between comfort, privacy and respect for the environment. This volume is positioned on a flat platform, at the highest level of the land and close to the public access road, to the east, ensuring greater privacy on the route approaching the main entrance, its main elevation denoting this idea of greater closure, with smaller openings, in contrast to the west-facing fronts, which open generously onto the garden area, through large openings, which allow to create a notion of continuity between internal and external spaces and for natural light to spread, in a controlled manner, providing a bright and welcoming environment.

As for the internal distribution of the house, the program is essentially developed in two distinct wings, demarcated by the entrance atrium: the first corresponds to the predominantly common and social spaces of the house, such as the living room, dining room and kitchen in open space, laundry, office and also covered outdoor areas; while the other wing contains private spaces, such as bedrooms and sanitary facilities. There is also a basement area, with access from the outside, for storage and technical areas.