Verdizela House by Estúdio AMATAM
Verdizela House sits in Marisol, Corroios, Portugal, where the Atlantic breeze reaches a pine forest edge and filters into a quiet domestic world. Estúdio AMATAM arranges this house as a contemporary courtyard dwelling, drawing on Mediterranean and Islamic precedents to pursue calm, control light, and temper the coastal climate. Across its white walls and timber accents, the residence reads as a disciplined retreat for introspective living.
White walls catch the coastal light while narrow courtyards cut into the volume, drawing air and shadow deep into the house. A quiet pine canopy surrounds this low profile, so daily life folds inward toward protected courts rather than out to the street.
Verdizela House is a house in Marisol, Corroios, Portugal, conceived by Estúdio AMATAM as a contemporary courtyard dwelling rooted in Mediterranean and Islamic precedents. The project privileges patios and voids over outward views, using them to organize movement, filter light, and temper the Atlantic climate. At its core, this is an inward-facing home that treats courtyards as both bioclimatic tools and stages for slow shifts of sun and shade.
Courtyards As Climate Room
A series of patios structures the plan, each tuned to air, sun, and season. The central courtyard acts as the main climatic heart, cooling in summer and providing protected brightness in cooler months. A lightwell pulls air and daylight through the interior, encouraging natural ventilation and soft gradients of illumination rather than harsh contrast. Smaller patios give short visual pauses from interior corridors, so even transitory zones maintain contact with sky and planted ground.
Volumes Shaped By Void
Built form stays restrained, held back so the voids define the overall composition. Massing reads as a collection of simple white blocks carved away to receive yards, terraces, and screened thresholds. This subtraction keeps the house discreet from the street while allowing generous internal exposure to air and daylight. White slatted screens line certain edges to refine privacy and control solar gain, creating a shifting play of stripes as the sun moves.
Material Calm And Tactility
Material choice underlines a preference for permanence and clarity. Ultra-compact sintered stone brings a precise, almost mineral feel to key surfaces, balanced by thermo-modified timber that introduces warmth and texture. Indoors, warm-toned microcement ties social rooms together, while natural oak flooring encourages a more domestic rhythm underfoot. Sintered stone in wet rooms adds durability, and black accents set a quiet graphic counterpoint to the pale envelope.
Daily Life Between Rooms And Courts
Inside, rooms open toward planted courts rather than expansive exterior vistas. The living room leans into a courtyard centered on a pomegranate tree, anchoring gatherings with a single clear focal point. A kitchen extends toward an outdoor terrace, allowing cooking and eating to migrate outward with the weather. A double-height void links both levels, drawing sound, air, and daylight through the house so circulation routes feel engaged with the courtyards, not separated from them.
As day fades, white surfaces trade sharp light for softer afterglow while the pine forest quiets around the perimeter. Courtyards hold traces of warmth and fragrance, extending the usable evening well past sunset. Within this measured frame, Verdizela House stays modest to the street yet generous to its interior world, tuned to breezes, shadow, and the slow passing of time.
Photography by Garcês, Estúdio AMATAM
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