Located in a small village in Beira Baixa, the project House in Vale de Abelha resulted from the need to renovate and expand the pre-existing housing structure with typical vernacular features, adapting it to modern spatial and building requirements.

The pre-existing structure – a pet and farming produce shop on the ground floor and a residential upper floor – houses the new private rooms (bedrooms, sanitary facilities and laundry room), while the new volumetric area houses the social rooms (living and sitting rooms, kitchen and technical area), seeking to integrate it into the landscape through the use of noble and natural materials such as wood or stone.

The project thus results in the renovation of the traditional building with a new contemporary volume annexed to the vernacular structure. The intervention sought to retain the elementary aspects of the local architecture, which is modest and clean, using simple building details contrasting with the new build, which is richer and more noble.

The project Vale de Abelha produced a large impact both at local and national levels when it was presented in conferences organised by the Portuguese Institute of Architects (Abrantes branch) and the Portuguese media.