The project, located in the Bairro da Encarnação in Lisbon, proposes the interior refurbishment and rear extension of a house whose existing typology, composed of small rooms with limited natural light, had become inadequate for the client’s needs. The intervention redefines the layout of the Ground Floor and increases the area on the First Floor, enhancing spatial quality and zenithal lighting, allowing the creation of three bedrooms with dimensions suited to contemporary market standards and a generous living room with direct access to the rear patio.

The concept is based on an oblique plane that opens the patio to the south, intensifying natural light and framing the view toward the Vale do Silêncio. This gesture is extended through a curved plane that envelops the rear façade, ensuring privacy between the semi-detached houses and organising the exterior landscape design. The extension adopts a contemporary architectural language, avoiding the inappropriate imitations seen in some neighbouring houses. The new volume, with a flat roof, aligns with the lower ridge of the original three-pitched roof and intervenes only on the rear and left side elevations, keeping the main façade and the characteristic morphology of the Bairro da Encarnação intact. The obliquity and curvature of the new façade are justified by the need for light, views and privacy, defining the identity of the exterior space and the pool area.

By preserving the main façade and the roofline, the project maintains the traditional character of the neighbourhood while introducing an element of surprise through a contemporary language that redefines both the interior and its relationship with the patio. The house in Lisbon thus brings singularity, transformation and contemporaneity to the Bairro da Encarnação, preserving the dynamics of the original urbanisation and harmonising innovation with heritage within a single architectural gesture, as stated in the design brief.

Team

Bruno Câmara, André Rodrigues, Beatriz Gomes, Carlos Pinto, Leandro Sales