Architects: ARX Portugal Arquitectos
Area: 620 m²
Year: 2024
Photography: Fernando Guerra | FG+SG
Lead Architects: José Mateus, Nuno Mateus
Design Team: Vitória Vasquez
Structural Engineering: MCABX Engenharia – Marco Caixa
Contractor: IMOPINA, Engenharia e Construções, S.A.
City/Location: Sintra
Country: Portugal
The House in Beloura is organized around a spatial strategy that responds to the contrasting conditions of an open landscape and the need for protected domestic realms. ARX Portugal Arquitectos positioned the residence to capture distant coastal views while constructing a series of sheltered outdoor spaces that temper prevailing wind and provide privacy. A central courtyard forms the heart of the plan, linking social areas and defining a zone of shared daily experience. This space is complemented by a secondary patio incorporating the swimming pool, further extending the home’s interior–exterior continuum. Outward-facing rooms engage the horizon through large openings and deep balconies, creating a layered architectural composition that integrates site, climate, and habitation.
The project introduces a distinct interpretive approach in which the house becomes a mediator between panoramic exposure and enclosed retreat. The central patio establishes an internal focus, acting as a place where movement converges and where the scale of the dwelling is brought to a more intimate dimension. By arranging the entrance hall, living room, and kitchen around this void, the design encourages visual connectivity and cohesion, reducing the sense of separation that might otherwise arise in a residence of this size.
The adjacent semi-patio containing the swimming pool contributes to this spatial logic, generating a sequence of outdoor environments with varying degrees of protection. These open-air rooms provide climatic comfort while reinforcing the architectural narrative of inhabiting the landscape through measured degrees of permeability. The configuration ensures that residents can move fluidly between interior and exterior settings without compromising privacy or comfort.
Along the perimeter of the structure, the architecture shifts toward a more expansive outlook. Large glazed openings in the living room and principal bedrooms project the home outward, offering uninterrupted sightlines that reach toward the sea. The resulting balconies operate as transitional zones that extend interior life while grounding the house within its wider territory. Through this interplay of enclosure and projection, the House in Beloura achieves a balanced dialogue between domestic intimacy and the broad natural horizon that defines its context.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Sintra, Portugal
The location specified is intended for general reference and may denote a city or country, but it does not identify a precise address.
