Casa M by Silverline
Casa M steps down a steep plot in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, as a two-story single-family house by Silverline. The split-level composition gathers everyday life around a social lower floor while lifting quiet suites and the garage above. From the street, it reads as a modest single-story volume; from the garden, it opens across two levels toward terraces, greenery, and a pool.
From the street, a single timber-clad volume meets the sidewalk with a calm, measured front. Step inside and the ground drops away, revealing a house that slides down the slope in two half-levels, pulling daily life toward light, garden, and water.
Casa M is a contemporary house in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, planned by Silverline around a pronounced three-meter (9.8-foot) fall from street to garden. The project turns that sloping ground into a split-level home where circulation, social rooms, and suites stack in short, clear sequences. Everyday use sits at the center of the plan, with social rooms flowing to terraces and pool while private quarters hover just a half-flight above.
Entering At Street Level
Arrival happens where the city ends and the plot begins. At street level, a hall acts as the hinge point, from which every main room branches in short, legible moves. One door leads to a covered garage sized for three vehicles and a compact technical area, keeping storage and maintenance close at hand yet out of daily sight. Another doorway brings guests into a flexible room with its own bathroom, ready to shift between home office and guest suite as routines change.
Raising The Private Wing
From that entry hall, a half-flight of stairs lifts family life above the street. The upper level gathers a master suite and two smaller suites, each organized around bathroom, walk-in closet, bedroom, and balcony. Solid wood slats wrap this floor, even across the garage doors, giving a single continuous surface that reads as one warm band. Behind the uniform skin, each bedroom steps out to its own balcony, extending morning and evening rituals toward air and light.
Dropping To The Social Level
Another short stair runs down from the entrance to the lower half-floor, where daily gathering unfolds. Although classified as floor -1, none of these rooms sit underground, since the entire façade opens east, south, and west to light and cross-ventilation. Living room, dining room, and kitchen line up as one continuous volume, their edges marked more by furniture and finishes than by walls. Large glazed openings slide this level out under covered terraces, so meals and lounging can spill directly to garden and pool on the existing ground line.
Sliding Panels And Quiet Service
Within the social floor, subtle partitions tune privacy during the day. Two wooden panels can close the opening between living area and kitchen, letting cooking noise recede without interrupting circulation. The kitchen itself is built around a panel system that, when shut, hides cabinets, countertops, appliances, and utensils, turning a hardworking zone into a calm backdrop during gatherings. Nearby, a laundry, guest bathroom, and small game room tuck into the same level, so chores and play sit only a few steps from the main rooms yet stay contained.
Materials Shaping Daily Life
Material choices reinforce how rooms connect and are used. Wood appears in slats, furniture, and sliding panels, lending warmth to circulation routes and active family areas. Underfoot, continuous microcement flooring runs through the lower level, minimizing thresholds and giving the long social volume a single, easy-to-clean surface. Outside, exposed concrete and stone anchor the house into the slope, their weight countered by glazing that pulls movement toward terraces, garden, and swimming pool.
By working with the topography instead of erasing it, Casa M organizes daily routines into clear, half-level moves between street, suites, and garden. Light, air, and short flights of stairs knit the house together, letting each floor keep its own rhythm while staying firmly linked to the outdoors.
Photography courtesy of Silverline
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