Located on a high ground in Vale d’el Rei, Lagoa, Casa Cabrita Moleiro aimed to transform an old agricultural property – of which the old miller’s house, the mill, the boundary wall, the threshing floor for harvesting grain and the cattle pen remain – into a cozy and flexible holiday home, according to the changing needs of the clients.

The historic buildings have been preserved and rehabilitated, becoming the boundary that frames the intervention and from which the articulation of new volumes of different heights develops.

The buildings are interconnected by an open-air courtyard that serves as a distributive junction and blurs the boundary between interior and exterior. The visual relationship with the landscape is an essential component of the composition: visual glimpses, terraces and viewpoints recover the memory of the traditional “Açoteia Algarvia”, the practicable flat roof typical of the region with a view of the sea and historically used to dry products in the sun.

Locally sourced materials were used in the renovation, recycled and kept in view, such as wood salvaged from the local railway, arranged in a playful pattern in the outdoor flooring.  A pure white colour, characteristic of the buildings in the area, unifies the sculptural volumes with their concrete structure and the interior spaces, where the light grey polished concrete floors dialogue with the rough wood panelling of the doors and outdoor flooring, in an effective balance of minimalism and rural spirit.