The Snake Houses project emerged with a dual purpose: to revitalize Pedras Salgadas Park as a premier hospitality destination and, at the same time, to preserve its natural and historical identity. Instead of restoring the old hotel or building a conventional structure, the solution was both radical and respectful — lightweight, modular homes designed to be minimally invasive yet architecturally impactful.

Their greatest strength lies in their adaptability. Each unit includes an entrance area, bathroom, living room, and bedroom, which can be organized in various configurations to suit the site’s topography, sunlight, and existing vegetation. This design approach allowed the houses to be installed without cutting down a single tree, resulting in a discreet and organic presence within the forest.

Although located near each other — a choice intended to ensure safety and comfort for guests — the orientation of the modules and the private decks ensure privacy and a thoughtful balance between public and private space. The slate cladding allows the structures to age gracefully, becoming one with the moss, rocks, and ancient trees that surround them.

Like the serpents that inspire their name, these houses are silent, flexible, and full of hidden surprises. Modest in appearance but surprisingly spacious inside, the Snake Houses evoke a more sensitive, sustainable, and dreamlike way of living.

Designed by the Rebelo de Andrade Studio, the Snake Houses offer a poetic and contemporary reinterpretation of a timeless childhood dream: the treehouse. Elevated on stilts and abandoning the orthogonal form, these serpentine structures wind their way through the treetops, gently blending into the forest landscape.

Clad in slate and wood, the houses achieve a near-invisible integration with their surroundings in Pedras Salgadas Park, respecting the local ecosystem and embracing a harmonious relationship with nature. Each house is uniquely positioned, shaped to the terrain and tree cover, with no trees felled in the process. Their modular, adaptable design allows for a wide range of layouts, balancing comfort with a deliberate sense of discretion.

A large circular window frames views of the surrounding trees, while a skylight opens a glimpse to the sky above — symbolizing the human condition, suspended between earth and sky. The Snake Houses don’t merely sit within nature; they aspire to become part of it.

Team:

Architects: Rebelo de Andrade Studio

Authors: Luís Rebelo de Andrade Tiago Rebelo de Andrade

Team: Raquel Jorge, Pedro Baptista Dias, Madalena Rebelo de Andrade

Interior Design: Luís Rebelo de Andrade, Tiago Rebelo de Andrade

Consultants: ARA – Eng. Fernando Rodrigues, DDN Project Management

Photographer: FG + SG - Fotografia de Arquitectura

Visualisation: Rebelo de Andrade Studio

Landscape: Mariana Rebelo de Andrade

Civil Engineer: Fernando Bagulho

Structural Engineer: Fernando Bagulho

Environmental Engineer/ MEP: Modular

Lighting: Rebelo De Andrade

Construction: Modular System

Client: Unicer Bebidas De Portugal - Vmps, Águas E Turismo

Incorporated into the Pedras Salgadas Park design and conceived by architect Luís Rebelo de Andrade, the tree houses arose from the challenge of creating an element that could fulfil the imaginary image of tree houses. The idea was to create an object moves away from orthogonality and pre-established concepts associated with construction. This house, developed in partnership with the company Modular System, uses a technology already tested on prototypes that enables a lightweight, self-supporting construction.

Coverings in slate and wood, indigenous raw materials, help foster integration with the landscape and render these architectural houses invisible, thus maintaining focus on this one-hundred-year-old park. Inside, the tree houses have two windows, one through which the life of the park may be observed, and another to look at the stars, a bathroom divided into 2 parts, a kitchenette, a double bed and a sofa.

Sustainability and ecology were constantly present in the development of this project: the non-impervious floor surfaces, reinforced coatings and insulation, the reuse of blackwater, the very low consumption lighting systems using LED technology, among other solutions found, give the initiative coherence and a raison d’être.

Along with the project Pedras Salgadas Park by architects Luís Rebelo de Andrade and Tiago Rebelo de Andrade, came the challenge of creating an object that could recreate the fantasy of the tree houses.

The project for these houses was developed in partnership with the Modular System Company. The idea was to get an object that would be far away from the orthogonality and from pre-established concepts associated with the modular construction.

The characteristic design associated with the slates and the wood on the base suggests a snake gliding between the trees. Like a wild animal in its natural habitat, the house suddenly appears in the visual field of the observer.

The choice of materials gives an instant sense of connection with nature at the same time it establishes a coherent image of the proposal into a perfect symbiosis between the house and the Park.

The architects made use of new technology already tested in prototypes that allow a weightless easy-carrying construction. Native raw material, slate and wood used in the finishing also promote the integration at the same time it confers invisibility to the houses, not allowing these to take the chief role which belongs to the centennial Park itself.

Sustainability and ecology have always been one of the major concerns during the development of the project. The consistency and rationale for the intervention were attained by the layers and reinforced insulation, heating systems, water reuse, water solar panels, the low consumption lighting system using LED technology as well as the option of keeping the soil without any impermeable system, among other solutions. Each house comprises a studio with a bathroom and a kitchen.

Thus, the two TREE SNAKE HOUSES of Pedras Salgadas Park are objects that, using similar materials and technologies, point out to our imaginary: the primitive hut and the wild animal.

Developed by the architects Luís Rebelo De Andrade And Tiago Rebelo De Andrade in cooperation with Modular System the project also foresees multiple purposes, which can be adapted to different landscapes and climates.

More models of these houses like the MOUNTAIN SNAKE HOUSE, the RIVER SNAKE HOUSE and the SAND SNAKE HOUSE, whose dimensions and materials are easily adapted to various climates and regions, are being developed and will soon be available to the public. It will then be possible to acquire one of these houses and to benefit from different situations such as coastal areas, riverbanks, mountain or urban environments.