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Architects: Mezzo Atelier
- Area: 2120 ft²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Ana Sampaio Barros
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Batista-gomes, CIN, Carpintaria 25 Unipessoal LDA, GlobalDis, Gosimat, Ilutop, Marmofoz, Porta R, Trimble Navigation
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Lead Architect: Joana Garcia de Oliveira
Text description provided by the architects. Livramento House was designed by the architects of Mezzo Atelier to shelter an English couple and their six dogs. The house reflects the practical and easy-going lifestyle of its residents, with a serene location at the top of a deep slope and covered by native vegetation. The team of architects used the typology and materiality of a nearby ruin to design the new construction: an existing lava stone wall was used to anchor and support the proposed volume.
The project is located on the Portuguese island of São Miguel, in the Azores archipelago, and it takes advantage of its rich landscape. The natural conditions of the land were considered in the project development to create da house’s volumetry as a stratified structure of two floors that unifies the unevenness found in the north-south direction. The team at Mezzo Atelier incorporated details of the island’s vernacular architecture and chose concrete and basalt stone as the main materials for the project. The facade is divided in half to create a continuity of the existing stone wall on the ground floor, which contrasts with the upper floor, painted in light grey.
The interiors of the house also consist of rather simple solutions to keep up the owners’ lifestyle. The upper floor holds the social area, which is arranged as a large and luminous open space, with a generous kitchen that extends outdoors and merges with the covered terrace. Due to the typical unstable climate of the Azores, this terrace is protected to shelter the couple and their dogs during rainy and windy days, while allowing them to enjoy the beautiful landscape in more pleasant conditions. Thus, the main entrance is located on the upper floor, while the service areas, bedrooms, and the home office sit below, integrated with the outside by a deck and a garden on the south side.
To protect the internal spaces from direct sunlight, wooden shades were incorporated into the doors, to add texture and originality to the facade. Finally, an external staircase in cement, stone, and steel joins the ground level to the upper terrace along the east facade, as a fundamental connecting element of the house.
