Vale da Pena Sustainable Housing is a sustainable residential project, integrated in what intends to be a rural tourism complex in a rehabilitated farm, in a small village in São João da Pesqueira, in Portugal.
Studio Name: HA+ARCHITECTURE+ENGINEERING
Design Team: HA+ARCHITECTURE+ENGINEERING
Area: 105m²
Year: 2012
Location: São João da Pesqueira, Portugal
Consultants: Carlos Teixeira, Ricardo Moreira
Photography Credits: HA+
The Vale da Pena Sustainable Housing project is characterized by a construction method consisting of a wooden slatted structure interspersed with cork coating. This strategy will allow us to minimize the environmental impact and to create a more organic structure that will seamlessly blend with the landscape. The plasticity and the technical features of the materials will also promote energetic improvement, therefore reducing the building’s ecological footprint.
The project was designed to embrace the preexistent ruins and three centenary cork trees located at the site, thus building a unique and balanced relationship between the built object and its natural surroundings.
Our proposal contemplates two one floor modules, both united and intercepted by the cork trees. The first volume, where the common areas (living room, kitchen, bathrooms) are located facing the magnificent landscape meets with the second volume, where one can find the leisure spaces (rooms, library) and two balconies embracing the cork trees.
