House in Caniçada

Casa na Caniçada is located in a densely wooded area next to the Caniçada reservoir, in Vieira do Minho (Portugal).

The volumetry of the existing building was the starting point for the definition of a new volume that consists of three floors and where a traditional single-family housing program is distributed. The most intimate program is located on the highest floor, while the social program is spread over the remaining two. On the lower floor, the house “opens up” to the site, as an invitation to enjoy the surrounding nature.

But it is on the middle floor that the house takes on greater expression through two large openings in opposite facades - one ensures the entrance to the house and the other “frames” the landscape facing the reservoir. Together, they ensure a greater sense of continuity between the exterior and the interior and the visual permeability between the arrival path - through the densely wooded hillside - and the Caniçada reservoir.

In outer space, the intervention was minimized in order to preserve the density of the vegetation, ensuring the feeling of protection provided by the natural surroundings of the land.

Carvalho Araújo