Location Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal
Total built area 500m²
Client Private
Casa AMB is the result of the exercise of architecture, where we sought to create a beautiful object without neglecting the functional conditions necessary to provide a distinct experience, while fulfilling the expectations listed by the clients.
The house is divided into two rectangular volumes: the body of the ground floor, perpendicular to the sea, and the body of the first floor, perched on the ground floor volume and parallel to the sea. It is intended, with this volume, to create an architectural object that relates to the surrounding environment in order to take advantage of the rural characteristics of the terrain and the view over the sea from the north coast. The house was located as far north as possible on the site, ensuring a reasonable distance from the public road and from the limit of the public maritime domain.
The ground floor houses the garage and car port (with capacity for four covered vehicles), a utility room, an entrance hall, an art gallery, and two bedrooms with a supporting bathroom. The first floor houses the open-plan kitchen, living and dining room, a guest bathroom and an office and, finally, a master bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe and private bathroom. The first floor is parallel to the sea in order to enjoy unobstructed views of the north slope. Therefore, the most lived-in spaces are on the first floor and to the north – the clients’ master bedroom, the living room and the kitchen. A large terrace to the north of the kitchen and living room sits on the roof of the ground floor volume. Where the volumes of the house intersect, although at different levels, is where the vertical access is found, consisting of the staircase and lift.
Two accesses to the house are proposed from the street: the pedestrian access that leads us to the entrance hall and the road access, which takes us to the garage and porch of the house.
With regard to the exterior arrangements, in addition to the areas for vehicle circulation and pedestrian access, a terrace was designed in front of the hall of the house, overshadowed by the volume of the first floor. In the centre of the terrace there is the pool changing room, a storage area and a barbecue. This area was devised to be a structural support for the volume of the first floor. However, to soften the visual impact of the body, it was proposed to cover it with a mirror. Thus, the idea is created that the volume of the first floor is levitating. All the remaining terrain was landscaped, divided into distinct areas – forest and meadow, and the meadow was composed of various types of native and exotic plants and shrubs, all found on the island of São Miguel. We also planned the partial recovery of the boundary walls, made of dry basalt stone laid by hand, which confer upon the site its predominantly rural characteristics.
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