Project: Rural tourism – Companhia das Culturas*

Type of project: Technical assistance on site for extension / alteration works

Date: 2007

Phase: Completion

Description: Following planning consent for the extension and alteration of a set of ruins on an agricultural property, designed in collaboration with Pedro Ressano Garcia, technical assistance was provided on site, as well as the detailing of some elements of interior and exterior design.

The project aimed to create an alternative to the mass tourism that is common in the Algarve, based on a concept of Sustainable and Organic Ecotourism. The target audience is the traveler who seeks authenticity.

In this sense, the proposal intended to preserve the authenticity of the building history, by introducing a clearly contemporary language both in the layout and in the choice of materials used.

Bespoke elements were designed to emphasise the customisation of the different environments. In one of the rooms, there is a suspended cupboard, which is not only used for storage, but also to provide intimacy to the place; in a living room, a heat recovery equipment lits up the space and atracts the eye; outside, the floor layout in dyed cement marks the entrance.

*project designed in collaboration with Architect Pedro Ressano Garcia