This incredible site is located on the outskirts of Leiria, Portugal in a high position overlooking the city. Designed by architects Manuel Aires Mateus, the functions of this home are like any other: a house divided in private area with bedrooms, and social area with living-rooms. The private areas are at street level under the plot, around a central courtyard with rooms opening to private patios in an intimate environment. The living rooms are around a void that collects light from above and gazes the castle at the city center.

The house is a recognizable archetype emptied of its center by the light designed by a three heightened courtyard that opens horizontally at the garden level. The bedroom courtyards, revealed in the garden, relate with this archetypal object providing different readings on its scale. Scale and volume are controlled in a chaotic context, with a clear identity that from its core relates with the historical legacy far away: the Leiria Castle.

Photos: FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra