Fala Atelier designs Lisbon home with “very Portuguese” materials
CategoriesInterior Design

Fala Atelier designs Lisbon home with “very Portuguese” materials

Architecture studio Fala Atelier decked out the angular spaces of the 087 house in Lisbon with oversized spots and stripes, which also feature on its bold marble facade.

Designed by Porto-based studio Fala Atelier, 087 is a three-storey home in the Portuguese capital with a rectilinear facade decorated with chunky marble shapes.

Chunky marble facadeChunky marble facade
The 087 house features a facade decorated with chunky marble shapes

The studio, known for its playful use of geometry, created custom carpentry from locally sourced materials to accommodate the home’s curved and staggered walls and the sloping ceilings within the building.

A garden-facing kitchen on the ground floor includes terrazzo flooring and stepped timber cabinetry decorated with bold black and white stripes and topped with marble slabs.

Funnel-shaped extractor fan by Fala AtelierFunnel-shaped extractor fan by Fala Atelier
A funnel-shaped extractor fan adds an eclectic touch

Unusual features such as a funnel-shaped, teal-hued extractor fan add an eclectic touch. This Fala Atelier-designed piece can also be found in a windowless garage in Lisbon that the studio converted for a couple.

“There are no elegant extractors on the market,” Fala Atelier partner Filipe Magalhães told Dezeen.

“All of them look like nasty appliances. With the kitchen in the way of the window, we knew we would have to integrate the fan. Since we couldn’t make it disappear, we celebrated the piece,” he added.

Open-plan kitchenOpen-plan kitchen
The open-plan kitchen is connected to the living space

The open-plan kitchen connects to the living area, which is characterised by pinewood flooring dotted with geometric walnut accents.

“The colours of the stripes and the dots on the floor really try to be noble,” said Magalhães.

Living space with Togo sofasLiving space with Togo sofas
Bespoke Fala Atelier-designed doors and window frames match the kitchen cabinets

The space also features doors designed by the studio and caramel-coloured Ligne Roset Togo sofas – a quilted and low-slung design classic created by Michel Ducaroy in 1973.

This seating was positioned next to a boxy fireplace clad with gleaming white ceramic tiles and a squat display plinth finished in veiny black marble.

Custom striped cabinetry by Fala AtelierCustom striped cabinetry by Fala Atelier
Custom cabinetry also features on the upper floors

“We tried to diversify the material palette as much as possible while still making it quite banal,” explained Magalhães.

“The choices are very Portuguese, but the mixture aims at being more than just that,” added the architect.

Board-formed concrete ceilingBoard-formed concrete ceiling
Board-formed concrete ceilings were included throughout

Upstairs, the same bespoke cabinetry as in the kitchen was used to form larger cupboards across the curved and angular private spaces of the two upper floors.

Board-formed concrete ceilings, which also feature downstairs, were paired with oversized rounded mirrors in the bathrooms and a mixture of timber and marble flooring.

The garden-facing facade follows the same geometry as its street-facing component, also featuring circular and rectilinear decorative shapes.

“This house is a lot about the relationship with the garden,” said Magalhães, noting the floor-to-ceiling glazing that connects the indoor and outdoor spaces.

Garden-facing facade with chunky marble decorationGarden-facing facade with chunky marble decoration
087 focuses on “the relationship with the garden”

Fala Atelier has designed several homes in a similar style, including six micro-houses in Porto with geometric forms and concrete finishes and another Porto property topped with a striped concrete roof.

The photography is by Francisco Ascensao and Giulietta Margot.

Reference

Christian Louboutin’s Vermelho hotel in Portuguese village of Melides
CategoriesInterior Design

Christian Louboutin’s Vermelho hotel in Portuguese village of Melides

Fashion designer Christian Louboutin and architect Madalena Caiado’s 13-room boutique hotel in the village of Melides, south of Lisbon, celebrates craftsmanship and has been “designed at the scale of the hand”.

Named after the French designer’s signature colour, Vermelho, which is Portuguese for red, is Louboutin’s first hospitality project.

Monkey side table in Vermelho Hotel bedroom
Each room is furnished from Louboutin’s collection

The hotel features 13 rooms – all of them filled with the work of local craftsmen and a selection of materials and furniture from Louboutin’s personal collection.

“This project has allowed me to empty my storage full of antiques and objects I have purchased over many years!” Louboutin told Dezeen.

Golden velvet couches
Floor tiles are in Louboutin’s signature shade of red

At one point in the development of the project it looked like it might not be approved to operate as a hotel and so Louboutin decided “if it’s not going to be a hotel, I’m going to do it as my house”. As a result, each of the hotel’s rooms have been individually designed and have their own identity.

“If you build a house, you’re never going to design the same room,” the designer said. “I don’t know a house where you have the same room three times – it only exist in hotels.”

“Houses have feelings – they have different rules to hotels,” he continued. “You can’t have your house looking like a hotel”.

The hotel has been designed in the local architectural style
The hotel has been designed in the local architectural style

Vermelho was designed to be “well-integrated into the village” and it was important to Louboutin “that it really respects the area and environment”.

Working with Portuguese architect Caiado, the resulting hotel meets the street as a series of traditional buildings in the local architectural language: white render with blue plinth and window detailing, terracotta-tiled roofs and a scattering of chimneys punctuating the skyline.

There was nothing on the site before work began
There was nothing on the site before work began

“We have tried to imagine a building that could have existed in that place, and that was part of the landscape,” Caiado told Dezeen.

“To achieve that, we made a project adapted to the topography, relating to the surrounding buildings, and re-discovering traditional construction systems and materials.”

The hotel looks out onto a private garden and pool
The hotel looks onto a private garden and pool

The site, which curves round a private garden and swimming pool that looks out to reed marshes, culminates in a tower, punctuated with playful window openings that hint at the internal character of the project.

Discreet from the street, the interior design and garden-facing facade is full of detail, colour and craftmanship.

Tower with diamond fenestration
The tower features unusual diamond punctuation

The hotel’s maximalist and eclectic style was intended as a reflection of Louboutin’s personal taste, while also celebrating Portuguese savoir-faire and the traditions of local craftspeople.

Having already worked with Caiado on his Lisbon house, Louboutin’s brief for Vermelho was to show Caiado an Indian bracelet from his collection, which from the outside looks like a simple gold bangle, but on its inside face was engraved with busy animal designs and set with diamonds.

Ornate interiors with bespoke lighting
The interiors are highly detailed

“I said to Madalena, the hotel should be like the bangle; from the outside, you don’t see anything,” Louboutin explained. “It’s to be a very simple, well-designed building that doesn’t give away much information about the inside,”

“But when you go inside, it should be this animal and diamond thing,” he continued.

Parquet floor and coffered ceilings
Bedrooms feature murals by Konstantin Kakanias

To achieve the highly decorative and detailed interior Louboutin collaborated with designer Carolina Irving, who acted as an advisor on textile creation and decoration, and ceramic tile designer and interiors consultant Patricia Medina.

Hand-painted frescoes by Greek artist Konstantin Kakanias cover the walls, while bedrooms features wardrobes with Maison Gatti French latticework.

Murals adorn walls throughout the hotel
Playful murals adorn walls throughout the hotel

Bespoke woodwork and carpentry was completed by Spanish master craftsmen company Los Tres Juanes. Throughout the project Louboutin used Alentjo tiles, as well as giving the Italian artist Giuseppe Ducrot a blank slate to design sculptural ceramic details for the facade.

The hotel restaurant, called Xtian, features a Klove Studio mural chandelier and a bespoke bar covered in hammered silver leaf, which was made by Seville-based liturgical goldsmiths Orfebrería Villarreal.

Silver and gold bar
The bar is made from silver by Spanish goldsmiths

Speaking to Dezeen, Caiado described the project as “at the same time, the most extravagant and most traditional project I’ve ever done”.

“The biggest challenge was balancing the different constellations of ideas for each space, so that it results in a harmonious way,” she explained.

“Especially during construction, Christian was present and brought his own creative universe, but also a more tactile way of thinking and with an artistic component of searching for novelty, even when it came to traditional materials and techniques – almost as if the hotel was designed at the scale of the hand of those who built it.”

Lattice work cupboards
Local Atlentjo tiles are used throughout the project

Other recent boutique hotels featured on Dezeen include Dorothée Meilichzon’s revamp of Cowley Manor Experimental and Beata Heuman’s interiors for Hôtel de la Boétie in Paris.

Photography is by Ambroise Tézenas.



Reference

restoration unveils centuries-old roof structure inside portuguese residence
CategoriesArchitecture

restoration unveils centuries-old roof structure inside portuguese residence

Combo Studio revives Casa São Victor in Porto

 

Combo Studio breathes new life into Casa São Victor, a historical building in Porto dating back to 1880-1881 that had lost its original charm due to ill-fated interventions that compromised its architectural integrity and spatial essence. The profit-driven alterations convert the building into collective housing, overshadowing its intrinsic character. The renovation aims to uncover the building’s original attributes preserving its heritage. Originally conceived as a single-family residence, the house features high ceilings, intricate carpentry, and a central staircase crowned by a conical skylight. The project revives the original spatial quality and comfort by subtracting any intrusive elements from the interior.

 

The project centers primarily on the revitalization of the building’s interior, excluding the untouched ground-floor commercial space. Spanning four floors, the dwelling’s layout unfolds connecting the various levels through the central staircase. The first floor houses the living area and kitchen, while the second floor offers a bedroom and bathroom. Ascending to the third floor reveals another bedroom and bathroom.

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
all images by Alexander Bogorodskiy

 

 

renovation reinterprets original architectural attributes

 

Originally conceived for an artist, a flexible studio-bedroom is devised on the top floor, offering versatility for combining sleeping areas with artistic pursuits. Along the entire length of the main wall, the design team installs a tripartite folding table, an adaptable centerpiece that can assume multiple configurations tailored to the workspace’s needs, discreetly folding into a wall paneling when not in use.

 

The restoration extends to the replacement of certain carpentry elements, such as craft baseboards and doors with their respective jambs. A restored partition wall within the water closet, unveiled during demolitions, now serves as a statement piece. In the top-floor bedroom, the removal of a false ceiling unveils the entire roof structure and a petite mansard, infusing the space with an airy expanse and natural light. Traditional materials like wood, Estremoz marble, and azulejos, along with a palette of light hues are thoughtfully chosen to visually amplify the interior’s sense of space. The aesthetic and formal features of the building’s original period act as a guide for the renovation project as elements from the past resurface, reinterpreted with a modern touch. The kitchen echoes old kitchens with grand chimneys and stone sinks, simplified for contemporary living.

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
in the top-floor bedroom, the removal of a false ceiling unveils the entire roof structure

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
the project revives the original spatial quality by subtracting any intrusive elements from the interior

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
the house features high ceilings, intricate carpentry, and a central staircase crowned by a conical skylight

restoration unveils centuries-old wooden roof structure inside portuguese residence
spanning four floors, the dwelling’s layout unfolds connecting the levels through the central staircase

Reference