Aldeia de Santiago

The project is located 2,2 Km from Alcacer do Sal, a historical township near the west coast of the Alentejo region, which sits on the northern bank of the Sado river and dates back to the 2^nd-century.

The concept derives from the occupation principle of the existing villages that over the years grew around the urban perimeter of the town itself, so effectively it can function as a sustainable tourism expansion that is able to merge with the social, cultural and economic structure of Alcacer without distorting its intrinsic character.

The concept is highly conditioned and defined by the specific character of the site and environmental constrains, with clusters and strings of buildings negotiating their edges against the cork oak forest which forms the undisturbed core of the property. Car traffic is restricted to the loop service road that surrounds the property, while bicycle paths crisscross the cork oak forest.

The houses are built in masonry and exposed concrete all of which is whitewashed with lime. Their design combines a critical interpretation of vernacular elements such as the tall chimneys and the variable eaves with a tactile and tectonic articulation between the infill walls and the concrete skeleton. The jagged geometry of the volumes, while circumvents the cork trees, generates informal and bucolic spaces between the buildings and nature.