CASA AVIS

Set on a hillside overlooking the river in Avis, this rehabilitated house establishes a privileged relationship with the landscape, offering wide-ranging views over the City of Avis and the Ribeira de Avis. The project is based on the recovery of a small two-storey dwelling of modest scale, reinterpreted through a simple residential programme carefully designed to ensure comfort, functionality and well-being.

The entrance level accommodates the social areas, where the living room and kitchen are arranged in a continuous and fluid layout. The spatial organisation prioritises natural light and framed visual connections to the exterior, allowing the landscape to become a constant presence in everyday life. This level is conceived as a place of gathering and contemplation, where interior and exterior engage in a subtle and balanced dialogue.

The lower floor is dedicated to the private areas of the house. The bedrooms benefit from greater visual and acoustic privacy, ensuring tranquillity and intimacy. Complementing this programme, the level also incorporates a gym and a games room, introducing a dimension of leisure and active living that enhances the quality of inhabitation, always in close dialogue with the river and the surrounding natural setting.

The exterior spaces extend the domestic experience beyond the built envelope. A social dining area and a swimming pool, both oriented towards the river, reinforce the relationship with the water and the landscape, inviting permanence and enjoyment of place. Terraces and outdoor areas carefully follow the existing topography, allowing the building to integrate naturally into the hillside and creating distinct moments of contemplation and pause.

The proposal values the relationship between the house, the river and the landscape of Avis, combining a restrained architectural language with contemporary comfort and respect for the natural and historical context. Every space has been designed to foster a complete sensory experience, where light, views, silence and proximity to nature come together, transforming everyday life into a true retreat.