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      Earthy colours bring warmth to clifftop Aethos Ericeira hotel in Portugal

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      Lisbon-based Pedra Silva Arquitectos has teamed up with Spanish design studio Astet to convert a former clifftop farmstead on Portugal’s west coast into a destination for surfers.

      Aethos Ericeira is a 50-room hotel positioned high up on sandstone cliffs, overlooking the beach on a stretch of coastline known to offer some of the best waves in Portugal.
      Aethos Ericeira occupies a converted farmhouse. Photo is by Francisco NogueiraPedra Silva Arquitectos oversaw the building work, which included reworking the facades, while Astet replanned the spatial flow and designed the visual aesthetic of the interiors.
      Their design draws from its setting, combining references to the rural landscape with elements of surf culture, and also taking advantage of the elevated view.
      The original facade is updated with protruding box windows. Photo is by Francisco NogueiraGrand windows, simple furnishings and an earthy colour palette help to create an environment where visitors can feel relaxed and connected with the setting.

      “When we came across the property, we immediately knew it was a unique opportunity – a secluded destination on top of a 40-metre cliff, surrounded by lush fields with unrivalled ocean views,” said CEO and co-founder Benjamin Habbel.
      “The building, a former farmhouse turned into a rehab centre, had been abandoned for many years,” he told Dezeen. “Despite its bad shape, we saw huge potential.”
      Arched windows are a key feature in the lobby. Photo is by PION StudioThe venue is one of five properties under the Aethos brand, along with locations in France and Italy.
      Like its sister venues, the ethos behind Aethos Ericeira is to promote mindfulness among guests, by offering wellbeing-focused spaces and experiences.
      The materials palette includes wood, rattan and soft-green tiles. Photo is by PION StudioFor Pedra Silva Arquitectos, this meant bringing a greater sense of cohesion to the existing buildings and the various extensions that had been added over the years.
      The old farmhouse was kept simple, with light-rendered walls, a clay tile roof, arched recesses and protruding box windows. Meanwhile other parts of the building were updated with timber slats and metal panelling.

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      “We felt the solution was to establish a clear distinction between old and new, restoring the existing building to something closer to its original state, and giving recent extensions and new construction their own distinct character,” said studio founder Luís Pedra Silva.
      “For the areas of more recent expansion, the challenge was to achieve a contemporary look and feel that was well integrated,” added architect Bernardo Nadais.
      “We achieved this by combining a strong materiality with surgical instances of demolition – removing some sloped roofs, opening up the balconies – allowing us to reinterpret the facades into clearer shapes and volumes.”
      Timber slats clad one of the newer buildings. Photo by PION StudioAstet’s interior design strategy centred around the year-round experience.
      The materials palette incorporates warm natural materials like wood, velvet and rattan, but also brings in cooler surfaces that include marble and stone.
      A swimming pool is framed by the buildings. Photo by PION Studio”Ericeira can be great and sunny but there are a few months where it’s windy and rainy, so the number one goal was for rooms and common spaces to function in the summer and be cosy in the winter,” said Astet’s Ala Zureikat.
      “Yet we didn’t want to be too literal and use Portuguese tiles, because I think that’s the first thing that everyone associates with Portugal,” he told Dezeen. “We wanted to achieve a more sophisticated twist.”
      The hotel is designed for surfing enthusiasts. Photo is by PION StudioThe most distinctive space is the hotel reception, which is characterised by the original arched windows, soft-green tiles and large louvre screens.
      The bedrooms are more minimal, with custom headboards, muted fabrics and wooden flooring.
      “The door of the room is a full-size mirror, so wherever you are, you always have a view of the ocean,” said Zureikat.
      Onda is the hotel restaurant. Photo is by PION StudioAethos Ericeira facilities include a restaurant, a gym, a heated saltwater pool, a meditation and yoga deck, and a spa with hammam, hot slab and treatment rooms.
      Landscape works help to create easy flow between these spaces, and link up with pathways leading to the beach.
      Other recent beach hotels to open include Ethos Vegan Suites in Santorini, Villa W in Saint-Tropez, and Patina Maldives.
      The photography is by Francisco Nogueira and PION Studio.

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      White leather curtains enclose Lisbon wellness centre by AB+AC Architects

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      Portuguese practice AB+AC Architects has designed a multifunctional wellness centre in Lisbon that doubles up as an artists’ residence.

      The Open Hearts wellness centre is arranged around one large room, which AB+AC Architects refers to as the shala. This Sanskrit term refers to the idea of home but also, in the context of yoga, a place where people can learn and practise together.
      The Open Hearts centre is orientated around a curtained room known as the shalaAs well as yoga classes, this adaptable space will host everything from breathwork classes and sound baths to meditation sessions, film screenings, dining experiences and creative writing workshops.
      Running around the periphery of the shala are floor-to-ceiling curtains crafted from white vegan leather, which can be drawn to keep the room out of view from the bustling street outdoors.
      At the front of the room, a wall of gold-tinted mirrors conceals a series of storage compartments. When an event is being held, the room can also be temporarily dressed with floor cushions and long birchwood tables.

      Behind the shala is the artists’ residence”Normally, when a design is very flexible, there is a risk of ending up with a very generic or sterile space, as if the only way to address adaptability is through non-specific design,” explained AB+AC Architects.
      “We knew that creating a neutral mood that could accommodate a variety of programs would not be stimulating, so we decided that the centre had to be able to evoke different emotions based on the function occurring at that given moment.”
      This includes a dining room and bespoke kitchenA grand limestone archway to the side of the shala grants access to the artists’ residence, which is entered via a narrow lounge area.
      The room is topped with a light-up ceiling that measures eight metres long and, when the artist is hosting an exhibition, washes their work in a complementary glow.

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      Next up is a small dining area and a custom-made kitchen suite featuring wooden cabinetry and a terrazzo-style countertop.
      Surfaces in the adjacent bedroom are painted a crisp shade of white while the corner dedicated to the bathroom – complete with a freestanding tub – is clad in distinctive terracotta tiles.
      The same gold-tinged mirrors from the shala are used here to help disguise the toilet.
      A terracotta-tiled bathroom contrasts with the white walls of the bedroomShould the resident artist want some fresh air, they can head outside to the small private patio.
      Here, a concrete planter that winds around the edge of the space is overspilling with leafy tropical plants, while volcanic stone pebbles are scattered over the floor.
      Foliage lines the private outdoor patio of the artists’ residenceOpen Hearts Lisbon has been shortlisted in the civic and cultural interior category of this year’s Dezeen Awards.
      Other projects in the running include a cow shed-turned-library, a historic cinema in Berlin and the world’s first multi-storey skatepark.
      The photography is by Ricardo Oliveira Alves.

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      Paulo Merlini Architects creates concrete spiral walkway inside Porto office

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      A spiralling concrete walkway and a storage wall filled with colourful ceramics are the standout features in this office for E-goi and Clavel’s Kitchen, designed by Paulo Merlini Architects.

      The three-storey building is the headquarters for two companies: Clavel’s Kitchen, which creates digital content for brands in the food sector, and email marketing provider E-goi.
      A spiralling concrete ramp connects the three floorsPaulo Merlini Architects designed the 2,800-square-metre workplace to be functional and flexible, but to also feel playful and creative.

      “One of the most important issues in designing a company’s headquarters is to create a space that expresses and is in line with the corporate culture,” said the studio.
      “Both E-goi and Clavel’s Kitchen present a rather informal type of management, although extremely professional, and asked us for a space that would express that – a fluid, equal, heterogeneous and unpretentious space.”
      A skylight illuminates the walkway from aboveThe building is made of two structures – one preexisting and one new – which join together.
      The concrete ramp forms the natural heart of the newly connected interior, providing access between floors while also functioning as a meeting place for staff.

      Concrete spiral staircase twists through open-plan office by Hildebrand

      Slender vertical bars create a balustrade, while adding to the sculptural appearance of the spiral.
      There’s also a skylight above, which allows natural light to filter down through all three floors.
      A storage wall is filled with objects used in photoshootsThe colourful storage wall, located on the first floor, provides a striking backdrop to the spiral.
      Built from wood and with a backdrop of clear glass, this huge shelving unit is filled with cooking equipment, crockery and tableware, used by Clavel’s Kitchen for photoshoots.
      These elements are organised by colour, creating a rainbow effect.
      The photography studio benefits from north lightThe photography studio is positioned directly in front of this wall, behind the glazed north-facing facade, so that it can benefit from natural light with minimal shadows.
      Paulo Merlini Architects said this is “the best light for the type of function it offers since, reflected by the sky, it offers low-contrast lighting, remaining relatively constant during the day”.
      “Wooden boxes” organise the interior layoutOther spaces in the office include a dining room with enough space for 100 people to eat together along with a mix of formal and informal meeting rooms and video-call booths.
      These spaces are organised by a series of “wooden boxes”. Some of these are complete volumes that contain entire rooms or booths, while others are made up of partition walls or ceiling surfaces.
      Meeting rooms are housed within these wooden volumesOne box incorporates three house-shaped openings, with banquette seating and tables built in, while another features curtains and beanbags.
      “It is the distribution of these boxes throughout the space that defines all the spatial dynamics,” said the studio.
      Spaces are designed to be flexible and fun”By distributing these functions in a heterogenic way throughout the space, and by mismatching these elements in a kind of organised chaos, we guarantee spatial versatility and create a series of nooks and crannies that allow several kinds of appropriation,” it continued.
      “We guarantee ample spaces where the interaction between co-workers takes place with great naturalness, and more discrete spaces where you can read a book, relax, or even have a more informal meeting.”
      Photography is by Ivo Tavares.
      Project credits
      Architect: Paulo Merlini ArchitectsProject team: Paulo Merlini, André Santos

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      REDO Architects creates theatre-inspired interior for Puppeteers House in Sintra

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      REDO Architects had stage sets in mind when redesigning the interiors for a pair of houses in the former Puppeteers’ Quarter in Sintra, Portugal.

      The two homes, now known as Puppeteers House, are part of a series of buildings that were originally built for a local puppeteer’s family, but had more recently been used as storage for farming tools.
      A curved wooden bench creates a window seat on the first-floor landingWith its renovation, Lisbon-based REDO Architects has brought the buildings back into residential use as homes for two of the puppeteer’s great grandchildren.
      The revamped buildings are designed to capture the spirit of their heritage, with lightweight wooden joinery constructions that evoke theatrical scenography and circular details that suggest a playful character.
      Bathrooms are concealed within the wooden joinery
      An all-new interior layout was needed, so this was designed to reinforce the theatrical feel.
      Elements like the staircase and first-floor window seat have a stage-like quality, while secondary spaces like bathrooms are concealed within the walls.
      The larger house contains a dedicated kitchen and dining space”The relation between the existing external walls and the new interior walls – two different skins – was explored and dramatised throughout the project on different scales,” explained studio founder Diogo Figueiredo.
      “This friction generated misalignments, which are expressed in the windows as opaque panels,” he told Dezeen, “and it also created in-between spaces for built-in furniture and bathrooms, like a back-of-stage area.”
      The homes sit on opposite sides of a garden courtyardOne of the houses is single-storey, the other is double-storey, and they are located either side of a private courtyard.
      The buildings are designed to function as self-contained properties, but they are also very open to one another, with large windows fronting the shared courtyard garden.
      The smaller property contains one bedroom on the ground floorThe smaller of the two homes contains a living space with a kitchenette, a separate bedroom and a bathroom.
      The other home has a similar layout, with a living room and a separate kitchen and dining space on the ground floor, and two en-suite bedrooms upstairs.
      Living spaces feature lioz stone flooringA consistent materials palette features throughout. An ivory-toned regional stone known as lioz was used flooring in the main living spaces and surfaces for the kitchen and bathrooms.
      Flooring in the bedrooms is wood, matching the doors, furniture and shelving that feature throughout the two homes.

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      Circular details feature throughout the interiors, at a range of scales. Some are full circles, like the porthole window and cabinet handles, while others are large curves, like the window seat or the rounded wall partitions.
      “We used a precise quarter of a circle as a tool – like a compass – in different radii, orientations, combinations and materialities,” explained Figueiredo.
      The main first-floor bedroom features a corner window”It was explored in different moments of the project: to differentiate and disconnect the new internal layer from the existing walls, to connect different rooms, and to create smooth circulation routes,” he said.
      Many of these curves are mirrored in ceiling details directly overhead, which contrast with the linearity of the exposed roof beams.
      The second first-floor bedroom features a porthole windowOther recent examples of house renovations in Portugal include House in Fontaínhas, a home with candy-coloured details, and Rural House in Portugal, a house created in an old granite community oven.
      Photography is by Do Mal o Menos.
      Project credits
      Architect: REDO ArchitectsProject team: Diogo Figueiredo, Pedro França Jorge

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      Merooficina carves up former fisherman's house into two bright apartments

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      Porto architecture practice Merooficina has converted a former fisherman’s house in Aveiro, Portugal, into two apartments that blend original features with new interventions.Casa da Beiramar is located in the historic neighbourhood of Beira-Mar with its colourful terraced houses. These have long, narrow floor plans and an adobe structure, meaning they are built from bricks made of earth and other organic materials.

      Above: Casa da Beiramar is situated in Aveiro’s Beira-Mar neighbourhood. Top image: the ground-floor flat now opens up onto a patio
      Clad in traditional azulejos tiles and decorated with green ceramic flowerpots, the houses were originally built for the local fishing community.
      “This part of the city has been witnessing an interesting fusion between the old dwellers and more recent inhabitants,” explained Merooficina founders Catarina Ribeiro and Vitório Leite.

      The downstairs kitchen features yellow tiles and marble countertops

      The studio was commissioned by one of these new residents to restore a two-storey, 150-square-metre adobe house, which sits on a corner plot with two street-facing facades.
      The client asked Merooficina to create a flexible design that would allow the building to be used in multiple different ways – initially as two apartments but with a longterm view of converting it back into a single house or an office for the owner’s new psychology practice.

      The stairwell leading up to the first-floor apartment is painted blue
      “We understand flexibility as a way to enrich ageing buildings,” said the studio. “It’s a matter of adding and layering possibilities on a specific place, so the new occupation can be multiple and transformative.”
      Using the house’s two existing entrances, the studio was able to create two separate apartments – one on each floor of the building. The first-floor apartment can be reached via a bright blue stairwell, while the ground-floor apartment is accessed directly from the street.

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      A door that connects the two apartments at the bottom of the stairwell has been temporarily closed off but yellow panes of glass help to funnel light into the stairwell.
      The studio restored and reinforced the existing adobe walls and floors to improve the apartments’ thermal and acoustic insulation. Original windows, doors and other structural and ornamental elements were retained as much as possible.

      A new balcony juts out over the patio
      The biggest intervention was the addition of a new steel structure, which allowed the back of the building to be opened up. Here, the previous owners had added a haphazard extension using ceramic bricks and steel sheets, covering what used to be a patio.
      This structure was demolished to return the space to its former use, while pivot windows were added to open up the ground floor apartment to the outdoor space.
      The patio walls are clad in a gradient of yellow tiles that were painted by a local artist, in a homage to Aveiro’s long history of tile production.

      The yellow tiles from the kitchen are matched on the patio
      The patio connects to an open-plan living and dining area and a kitchen, which features matching yellow tiles, marble countertops and birch plywood cupboards.
      From the kitchen, a mirrored door leads to the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen.
      A glazed balcony was added above the new patio on the first floor, which houses a bathroom and a bathtub enrobed in a white curtain to create a barrier between the bather and the busy street.

      The bathtub is hidden from view through a white curtain
      “We wanted to mix and match the ambiences of both apartments using the tiles and other details, but they are quite different,” Ribeiro told Dezeen.
      “In the upstairs apartment, we tried to retain all of the existing features, such as the windows and wood detailing – adding only the glazed balcony in the bathroom and a new kitchen. Downstairs, however, was in a very bad state when we began the project. So here we used a cleaner, more minimal design language and organisation.”

      Pinewood flooring runs through the first-floor apartment
      In the upstairs kitchen, the architects restored the original tiles, brown rose plaster and marble as well as replacing the pinewood flooring.
      Whenever the owners want to convert the property back into a single dwelling, the apartments can easily be connected via the door at the bottom of the stairwell while the kitchen on the first floor could be converted into an additional bedroom.

      Yellow glass panes separate the two apartments
      Alternatively, the downstairs entrance, bathroom and bedroom could be closed off from the kitchen and living room and turned into an office for the owner’s work as a psychologist.
      “The mixture between the new interventions and the existing, recovered features is a liquid blend between two ways of building,” explained the architects. “One more universal – related to the new habits and comfort demands of the new inhabitants – and the other more vernacular, related to the place, the existing building and the local culture.”
      In Spain, Iterare Arquitectos used traditional construction techniques and local materials to update a 100-year-old home in a former fisherman’s neighbourhood in Valencia. The minimalist interior is designed to blend in with its historical surroundings.
      Photography is by Tiago Casanova.

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      Aurora Arquitectos transforms ruined Lisbon building into fun family home

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      A fireman’s pole lets children slide down between floors in this house that Aurora Arquitectos has created in Lisbon, Portugal.The building that the house occupies is nestled along Bartolomeu Dias street, west of central Lisbon.

      Although the structure had fallen into a state of almost complete ruin, it was purchased by a couple who wanted to establish a home where they could live for the foreseeable future and raise their three young children.

      Aurora Arquitectos was tasked with carrying out the residential conversion.

      “This is an upstream project in a time when the city has been gradually emptied from its inhabitants under the pressure of tourism and real estate speculation,” said the practice.
      “This is a project of resistance since it grows from the desire of a family wanting to remain in its own neighbourhood.”

      The original building was two storeys and measured just 60 square metres.
      As Aurora Arquitectos had to reconstruct nearly the entire building, it decided to extend the structure to create three more storeys and an extra 169 square metres of space.
      The new portion of the building has been painted bright white.

      “The family lived for some years in the Netherlands in a typical townhouse, known as a typology that has a vertical distribution of the program, so we can also say that influenced the design process,” the practice explained to Dezeen.

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      Inside, the traditional arrangement of rooms has been reversed. The sleeping quarters are on the bottom two floors, while the communal living spaces have been spread across the upper three floors to benefit from views of the nearby Tejo river.

      This excludes the playroom that has been situated at the rear of the ground floor, complete with curving in-built shelves where the kids can display their toys.
      The room can be reached via a fireman’s pole that extends from the kid’s bedroom directly above.

      “The family has three children and they like to spend all their time together, so the option was to concentrate their sleeping area,” added practice.
      “But once they grow up and need separate bedrooms one can transform the playroom into a bedroom, and the pole area into a bathroom.”

      As the playroom faces onto a narrow lane often frequented by pedestrians, the rear elevation of the home has been fitted with oversized privacy shutters that can be slid across the windows.
      On the home’s front elevation, the practice has simply restored the existing patterned tiles and freshened up the “Lisbon-green” paint that features on the doors.

      Rooms across all levels of the home have timber flooring and white walls, cabinetry and light fixtures. Perforated white metal forms the treads of some of the staircases.
      A splash of colour is provided by a recessed window in the kitchen that the practice refers to as “the green eye” as it is lined with jade-coloured Verde Viana marble.

      On the fifth floor is an outdoor terrace inset in the house’s pitched roof.
      The terrace is backed by a glass wall that looks down to the home’s living room on the fourth floor. Here there is a large window seat where the inhabitants can sit and relax with a book.

      Aurora Arquitectos was established in 2010 by Sofia Couto and Sérgio Antunes.
      The practice has completed a number of other projects around the Portuguese city of Lisbon – others include a brightly-hued hostel that occupies an old family home, and a renovated 1970s apartment that features angular skylights and folding walls.
      Photography is by Do Mal O Menos.
      Project credits:
      Architecture: Aurora ArquitectosArchitecture team: Sérgio Antunes, Sofia Reis Couto, Carolina Rocha, Bruno Pereira, Tânia Sousa, Rui Baltazar, Dora JerbicBuilding supervision: GesconsultEngineering: Zilva, Global, LDAConstruction: Mestre Avelino

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      Triple-perspective living room forms core of Casa Meco in Portugal

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      Atelier Rua has arranged living spaces in this pared-back Portuguese holiday home around an enormous living room, which has three different vistas of its verdant surroundings. Situated south of Lisbon in the small village of Aldeia do Meco, the one-storey concrete house is shared by a retired Dutch couple. The pair were keen to work […] More