Though initially reading as a modern villa, Casa Rio by Paulo Merlini Architects is actually a remodelling of an old farmhouse in a rural city. By stripping away layers of the original farmhouse façade, the architects discovered that the house was actually made up of three small houses that met the needs of the previous owner.
The key design concept for the architects thus became maintaining the integrity of the original volumes, uncovering their original shape and character, and then unifying them on a substantial slab. The slab itself is perforated by a central patio that helps to draw light down to the ground floor.
A new roof garden on this unifying slab plinth adds new exterior space for all room and private areas for the house.
In terms of materiality, there is a strong contrast between the two floors. The ground floor presents a rougher materiality. Conveying the feeling and tectonics of living within a granite excavated mass, the base level is solid with a stone construction and a strong feeling of being anchored in the earth.
Above, pure white volumes of the three original houses are light and luminous. The wooden shutters and floors plus the white render evoke the feeling of a traditional Portuguese house.
