FEITAIS HOUSE
Jose Campos Architectural Photographer

FEITAIS HOUSE

José Lobo Almeida Architects as Architects

Feitais House, built in 1870, is part of the rural centre of the village of Contenças de Baixo, in a mountainous landscape shaped by the Mondego River.


The House, consisting of ground floor and first floor, had other outbuildings (including the caretaker's house, wine press and oven) that characterised the set.


The dark ground floor that connects to the street and the courtyard was used for food storage and as a cellar. From the stone cross square and the interior courtyard, outdoor stairs lead to the upper housing floor.


Besides its renewal, the purpose of transforming the house into a tourism facility led to the creation of a new building that would complete the area needed for the eight required housing units.


The program was distributed, so as to gather the common areas on the ground floor of the main House, and the accommodation units on the upper floor and in the new building designed for it.


The demolition of the roofing and surrounding walls of the former wine press adjoining the House allowed to create a new garden space, and now the common rooms of the House face it through three new glazed openings. The base of the former wine press was transformed into the access platform of the new pool.


The roof's degradation state and the need for its replacement ended up suggesting that the inclined new roofing, now without attic, would reflect in the interior, providing a new spatiality of the top floor, where three bedrooms and a reading room (which communicates vertically with the reception) occupy the corners of the square plan. One room communicates with the former kitchen, which still has the fireplace, now transformed into a living room space. Through the central corridor, all rooms have access to the outdoor balcony facing south.


The stone masonry resulting from the demolished buildings, which over time were obstructing the courtyard, was enough to build the surrounding walls of the new building consisting of five accommodation units (three duplexes and two double rooms). The new building, with the width of the former caretaker's house, is located in the southern edge of the forecourt in an explicit commitment to the landscape - the cut out of the sky by the mountain range of Serra da Estrela.

Products Behind Projects
Product Spotlight
News
PLATO Gallery of Contemporary Art: Architecture finalist in Mies van der Rohe Awards 2024
29 Mar 2024 News
PLATO Gallery of Contemporary Art: Architecture finalist in Mies van der Rohe Awards 2024

In this Archello series, we look at each of the seven nominated projects (five architecture finalist... More

Detail: sliding panels of natural pine protect a residential complex from the Mallorcan sun
29 Mar 2024 Detail
Detail: sliding panels of natural pine protect a residential complex from the Mallorcan sun

Spanish architecture firm OHLAB has recently completed Paseo de Mallorca 15, a residential complex o... More

Snøhetta designs new extension for the world’s oldest ski museum in Oslo
28 Mar 2024 News
Snøhetta designs new extension for the world’s oldest ski museum in Oslo

Global transdisciplinary architecture and design practice Snøhetta has designed a new entranc... More

10 public buildings that demonstrate architectural applications of precast concrete
27 Mar 2024 Specification
10 public buildings that demonstrate architectural applications of precast concrete

Precast concrete is made by casting concrete in a reusable mold. These molds are made of various mat... More

Sameep Padora and Associates creates a flowing, organic art center in southern India
26 Mar 2024 News
Sameep Padora & Associates creates a flowing, organic art center in southern India

Mumbai-based Sameep Padora & Associates (sP+a) has completed Hampi Art Labs in Toranagallu, a vi... More

Introducing Partner Thermory AS
26 Mar 2024 Partner News
Introducing Partner Thermory AS

Thermory AS offers a diverse product range that includes durable exterior cladding, decking, interio... More

Brooklyn Tower by ShOP Architects showcases a unique materiality
25 Mar 2024 News
Brooklyn Tower by ShOP Architects showcases a unique materiality

Brooklyn Tower, standing an impressive ninety-three stories tall with a unique neo-deco crown, is al... More

Doriana Fuksas, Martin Lesjak, Li Xiang and Steven Wright join Archello Awards 2024 jury
25 Mar 2024 Archello Awards
Doriana Fuksas, Martin Lesjak, Li Xiang and Steven Wright join Archello Awards 2024 jury

Doriana Fuksas, Martin Lesjak, Li Xiang and Steven Wright have been announced as Archello Awards 202... More