The Portuguese architects of SIA design Casas da Encosta, where sand, lime, and wood flow through and unify spaces conceived for retreat and repose

The Casas da Encosta ensemble, designed by SIA arquitectura, brings together a main house and four smaller guesthouses, each almost identical in size. The architects—Ana Cravinho, Inês Cordovil, and Sofia Pinto Basto—opted for a language rooted in the traditional architecture of this coastal region of Portugal, using honest, elemental materials like wood and lime plaster.

The design follows the model of a large patio house, with a central garden-courtyard around which the five volumes are discreetly arranged. These buildings, at once open and secluded, form a private, tranquil retreat, where the omnipresent dune—both inside and out—and a restrained, consistent color palette evoke a sense of timelessness, as though these simple, fragile-looking homes had always belonged here, like the elder residents of this land.

At the highest point of the site, the main house rises. A central volume with a traditional pitched roof is flanked by two perpendicular wings, framing a generous living room and a spacious wooden porch that opens directly onto the central garden. This space becomes a place of shade and shelter—an architectural threshold between home and landscape.

Project: Casas da Encosta.
Location: Carvalhal. Grândola. Portugal.
Construction Dates: 2022 – 2023.
Architecture: SIA arquitectura.
Architects: Ana Cravinho, Inês Cordovil, Sofia Pinto Basto.
Collaborators: Ana Rita Martins, Matija Peric.
Engineering: Prodetail
.
Landscape Design: Greengest.
Construction: ECM Engenharia e Construção.
Gardens: Olhó Rosmaninho.
Built Area: 571 m².
Site Area: 2.491 m².
Photography: Francisco Nogueira
.

SIA arquitectura

“Founded in 2007, our practice began with the decision to inhabit a house. Not just to live in the city, but to seek out the sense of comfort we believe the city can offer. We chose the site, the street, the valley view, the program—and the risk of taking on the full process. Architecture requires decisions made from the conviction that small-scale, rigorous, and relevant actions naturally amplify over time. This is our moment, and our context. Listening is the practice of our profession.” —SIA arquitectura

Ana Cravinho

Born in Ponta Delgada in 1977, Ana graduated from the Technical University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Architecture in 2000. She worked at Sousa Oliveira Arquitectura e Urbanismo from 2000 to 2007, coordinating competitions including the Capitólio Theatre in Lisbon (1st prize) and the Law School at Universidade Nova de Lisboa. She collaborated with Manuel Aires Mateus during this period and has been working independently since 2002.

Inês Cordovil

Born in Lisbon in 1973, Inês graduated in 1998 from the Faculty of Architecture of UTL. From 1998 to 2007, she worked at Sousa Oliveira Arquitectura e Urbanismo, coordinating key projects such as the Lisbon Central Library and Municipal Archive and the Lisbon Stone Block residential building. From 2007 to 2016, she worked at Aires Mateus e Associados, where she led projects including the Alcântara Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Rua de São Bento 311residential building, and the AMA headquarters in Príncipe Real. She has maintained her own practice since 1998.

Sofia Pinto Basto

Born in Lisbon in 1970, Sofia earned her architecture degree in 1993 and worked as a project coordinator at Sousa Oliveira Arquitectura e Urbanismo until 2013. Her work includes the Universidade Nova de Lisboa Campus, the Cávado and Ave Polytechnic Campus, and the Lisbon Stone Block. In 1995, she completed a philosophy program at Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Source: SIA arquitectura

Project by SIA arquitectura