![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Exterior Photography, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/69f6/63c0/17dd/6300/0f6c/newsletter/1990_292a.jpg?1606511084)
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Architects: Mário Martins Atelier
- Area: 452 m²
- Year: 2020
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Margres, Saint-Gobain, Algarstone, BRUMA, Cortizo, Fassa Bortolo, Impermeabilizações, JJ Teixeira, Jdias, Sanindusa, Weber
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Lead Architect: Mário Martins
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/68ac/63c0/17dd/6300/0f58/newsletter/1990_018a.jpg?1606510753)
Text description provided by the architects. The house was built from scratch on the degraded space of a vehicle workshop. A new building appears behind a really massive, powerful wall that is more than a meter thick, guarding the memories of successive occupations and that now plays the role facing onto the street. The wall provides ancestral tranquility for the patio house, a common design in the surrounding area because of the long Moorish occupation.
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/6a06/63c0/17d6/2c00/130d/newsletter/1990_296a.jpg?1606511099)
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Image 37 of 37](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/6814/63c0/17dd/6300/0f51/medium_jpg/1990-Cortes-CD.jpg?1606510597)
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Exterior Photography, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/6a16/63c0/17dd/6300/0f6e/newsletter/1990_305.jpg?1606511115)
In a more reserved area, there are 4 bedrooms that open onto the garden. A central patio is a pivotal point for the entrances, a source of natural light and mainly a privileged zone for socializing outdoors.
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Interior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/6932/63c0/17dd/6300/0f60/newsletter/1990_132.jpg?1606510885)
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Image 35 of 37](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/689f/63c0/17d6/2c00/12f6/medium_jpg/1990-Planta-02.jpg?1606510734)
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Interior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/6942/63c0/17d6/2c00/1301/medium_jpg/1990_162.jpg?1606510902)
The way that was found to show the wall's character was through the contrasting lightness of the house, which hides and seeks shelter through the force of the wall. Therefore, large glass walls provide a tenuous frontier between the inside of the house and the garden patio, because all of this is the house. There are four bedrooms, a large lounge and kitchen, but there are also small, discreet patios and the large garden patio arranged around the pool.
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Interior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/6961/63c0/17d6/2c00/1303/newsletter/1990_185a.jpg?1606510935)
The bare concrete covers the few remaining walls to stress the sobriety of the building and articulate it with the grey finishes, as the stone of the pavements and the plaster coat of the ceilings.
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Interior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/69e6/63c0/17dd/6300/0f6a/medium_jpg/1990_287.jpg?1606511067)
The rest is urban landscape, built over years and years of history in which this intervention will just be a mere passage. If it managed to add anything positive it is because the architecture is fulfilling its role.
![House of the Nuns / Mário Martins Atelier - Exterior Photography](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5fc1/69c7/63c0/17d6/2c00/130b/medium_jpg/1990_268a.jpg?1606511036)