This inspiring vacation house situated in Castelo Branco, Portugal, has been redesigned in 2020 by Henrique Barros-Gomes.

Description
The brief was to transform an ancient community oven, owned by the client?s family for decades, into a comfortable, single bedroom vacation house, with space to gather the family when needed.
The original construction was a small, single-story volume, with thick exposed granite walls and a gable roof. A walled area, including an almost ruined porch, complemented the property.
The region has very cold winters and stifling summers. According to the brief, the intervention should also provide ease of use in both situations.
Located in a small, well-preserved village in the rural centre of Portugal, close to the border, the house, as many others around it, was closed and unused for more than half a century. It had, however, a quiet dignity and a sad beauty. The potential was definitely there.
The project includes several proposals:
– To keep the beautiful external walls, raising them to the alignment of the adjoining construction, allowing for a bigger volumetry and the possibility of building a mezzanine.
– To maintain a discrete and traditional exterior, assuming the possibility of turning the interior into a much more contemporary and compelling space.
– To compensate for the lack of space by maximizing its use and reducing the partitions to the essential, while searching for a volumetric quality.
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