Amatam reinterprets the Mediterranean courtyard house south of Lisbon, in a landscape of Atlantic pine forest

Over the past decades, Portuguese architecture has consolidated a distinctive position within the European panorama. Far from spectacular gestures, many of its studios have built a practice based on precision in design, dialogue with place and a deep attention to everyday life. Since the influence of masters such as Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura, several generations of architects have continued exploring a restrained architecture in which matter, light and proportion play a fundamental role.

It is within this context that the work of Estúdio Amatam, founded by architects João Escaleira Amaral and Manuela Tamborino, can be situated. Their architecture participates in this contemporary sensibility that understands the project as a search for balance between tradition and experimentation, between constructive memory and new ways of inhabiting space.

Casa in Verdizela is an example of this approach, following the desire expressed by its owners: to build a place where time could pass differently, within a reserved and quiet atmosphere. Through the reinterpretation of the Mediterranean courtyard house typology, the project explores an introverted architecture where domestic life is organised around patios that regulate light, air and the relationship with the surrounding Atlantic pine landscape.

Architecture turned inward

From the street, the house presents itself with a restrained attitude. The façade maintains a certain distance from its immediate surroundings, protecting the intimacy of domestic life. Yet once the entrance is crossed, the architecture gradually opens inward, where the patios organise the spatial experience and define the identity of the project.

The volumetry is shaped through a process of subtraction, where voids acquire as much presence as the built volumes. This strategy allows natural light to shape the spaces throughout the day, generating a changing play of shadows and reflections that transforms the perception of the house over time.

The house is organised around patios that regulate light, air and everyday life, turning architecture into a quiet stage for domestic life.

Each patio performs a specific role within this spatial sequence. An entrance courtyard introduces visitors to the introverted logic of the house; a central courtyard becomes the core of domestic life; smaller patios bring light and ventilation into deeper areas of the dwelling, creating visual and atmospheric pauses along the route.

The living room opens onto the main exterior space of the house, a generous courtyard organised around a pomegranate tree, a gesture that reinforces the Mediterranean identity of the project while introducing a living element capable of marking the passage of the seasons. The kitchen maintains a direct relationship with the social spaces and with an outdoor terrace, while a double-height space visually connects the two floors and provides spatial continuity throughout the house.

Bioclimatic thinking and reinterpreted tradition

Beyond its spatial dimension, the presence of the patios also responds to an environmental logic. These voids act as natural regulators of the indoor climate: they promote cross ventilation, provide coolness during the summer and help retain warmth in winter.

In this way, the house recovers principles of ancestral bioclimatic architecture, reinterpreting them through a contemporary sensibility. Architecture does not simply protect from the exterior; it engages in dialogue with climate, light and the vegetal environment of the site.

Materials and domestic atmosphere

The material language of the project reinforces this idea of sobriety and permanence. On the exterior, the house is built from two main materials that define its character and establish a balance between technological precision and natural texture.

The ground floor is clad in ultra-compact Dekton sintered stone by Cosentino, used in the suede finish and the REM reference, a highly resistant material that protects the lower volume of the house while providing visual continuity across the façades. Above this mineral base appears a cladding of thermo-modified Lunawood timber, applied through the Luna Panel System. Its warm texture introduces a more organic dimension to the architecture and establishes a dialogue between contemporary technology and constructive tradition. Between these planes, white slats filter the light and help regulate privacy and solar exposure.

In the exterior spaces, the pavements are executed in Betão UniDecor decorative concrete by Secil, whose continuous surface reinforces the fluid relationship between patios and outdoor living areas.

Inside, the material palette continues the calm atmosphere established outside. The social spaces on the ground floor are unified by a continuous floor in Sika microcement in Rodio grey with a matte finish, a warm and comfortable surface that enhances spatial continuity between rooms. On the upper floor, the flooring is resolved with Pluscover Woodcover multilayer wood, Brussels reference, introducing a softer, more domestic material presence in the bedrooms and private areas.

The wet areas maintain the coherence of the architectural language through the use of Dekton sintered stone, employed in several references — Rem, Sasea, Siroco and Zenith — both for cladding and for countertops and basins. These surfaces combine aesthetic sobriety, durability and low maintenance.

The kitchen is equally resolved with a Dekton Zenith countertop, while the bathrooms incorporate Grohe Essence taps in Brushed Hard Graphite finish, Sanindusa sanitary fittings, Geberit Sigma 30 flush systems and Italbox Frame shower screens in matte black finish.

The exterior aluminium carpentry was produced by Alunik, while thresholds and window sills are made from white Estremoz marble, a traditional Portuguese stone that introduces a local nuance into the project. Inside, certain pieces of furniture reinforce the contemporary character of the domestic space, including the Analog table by Fritz Hansen, Élémentaire chairs by HAY and The Dot handles by Muuto.

The result is an architecture in which material is expressed with clarity, creating a serene atmosphere in which every element participates in the same language of precision, durability and calm.

A house open to ways of inhabiting

The architecture of Casa in Verdizela proposes a flexible structure capable of adapting to different rhythms and ways of living. Spaces are organised as an open framework for everyday activities, where interior and exterior remain in constant dialogue.

In this sense, the house acts as a quiet stage for domestic life. A restrained architecture that works with light, time and material to construct an atmosphere of calm.

In Verdizela, between the Atlantic pine forest and the proximity of the ocean, Estúdio Amatam proposes a dwelling where architecture unfolds discreetly, allowing life to find its own rhythm among patios, shadows and flashes of light.

Project: Casa en Verdizela.
Location: Verdizela, Seixal (Portugal).
Completion: septiembre 2023.
Built area: 284 m².
Site area: 900 m².
Architecture: Estúdio Amatam.
Architects: João Escaleira Amaral y Manuela Tamborino.
Collaborator: Vera Ferreira.
Photography: Garcês.
Source: Estúdio Amatam.

Estúdio Amatam

Founded in Portugal by architects João Escaleira Amaral and Manuela Tamborino and based in Almada, Estúdio Amatam works across the fields of architecture, interior design and urbanism. Since its inception, the practice has developed an approach that combines spatial research, material sensitivity and a deeply contextual understanding of each project.

The studio’s work is characterised by a constant search for innovative solutions capable of transforming the constraints of place, programme and everyday life into opportunities for design. For Amatam, architecture is understood as a discipline capable of approaching the territory of art, where creativity, technical precision and spatial experience converge to shape places with a distinct identity.

From single-family houses to facilities and urban interventions, the studio approaches each commission as a process of exploration in which technological tools, constructive knowledge and a sensitive reading of context come together. Their projects are recognised for the clarity of their volumes, their attention to light and the relationship between interior and exterior, as well as for a continuous contemporary reinterpretation of traditional Portuguese architectures.

The experience accumulated by its founders in national and international offices, together with collaborations with other professionals on specific projects, has helped consolidate a practice that combines technical rigour, spatial experimentation and a multidisciplinary vocation encompassing architecture, design and urbanism.

At the centre of their work lies a consistent objective: to understand every project as an opportunity to shape spaces that respond precisely to those who inhabit them, bringing quality, character and a meaningful relationship with their surroundings.

João Escaleira Amaral and Manuela Tamborino

Architects João Escaleira Amaral and Manuela Tamborino founded Estúdio Amatam with the intention of developing an architectural practice open to different scales and contexts, from domestic architecture to urban reflection. Both trained at the Faculty of Architecture of the Technical University of Lisbon, where they obtained their architecture degrees, later complementing their education with international academic and professional experiences.

João Escaleira Amaral furthered his studies at ETH Zürich, where he completed the Master of Advanced Studies in Urban Design, focusing on the study of informal territories and contemporary urban processes. This period reinforced his interest in the urban and social dimensions of architecture, as well as in strategies for intervention within complex contexts.

During the early years of their professional careers, both architects worked in several architectural offices in Portugal and abroad, gaining experience in architectural projects as well as in design and urban planning processes. This formative stage included work in practices such as Saraiva e Associados, Tamborinos e Costa and Intergaup, where they participated in architectural projects and in technical and construction development processes.

In parallel, they were involved in urban and social initiatives such as Coletivo Urbano, a collective of architects that worked on urban improvement projects in informal areas of São Paulo, exploring new tools for intervention in complex urban contexts and territories in transformation.

The creation of Estúdio Amatam emerged precisely from the convergence of these experiences: a practice that combines the rigour of architectural design with a broad perspective on the city, the territory and contemporary ways of inhabiting space.

From their studio in Almada, Escaleira Amaral and Tamborino now develop an architecture that moves between the essential and the experimental, where each project becomes an investigation into matter, light and everyday life.

Project by Estúdio Amatam