Despite being located in a sunny little neighborhood overlooking the Tagus River, the old narrow house sets a very different scene. The main objective of the project was to revitalise and inject life back into the almost ruined building, The house was originally very dark and made up of disjointed small spaces. Its internal rooms were disconnected from the rear courtyard: small windows, varied floor levels and a messy rear extension completely detached the inside from the outside.

Besides opening the house to the rear courtyard - which was the main request from the client - I thought it would be interesting to level the backyard with the inside. This created multiple interior levels made up of half storeys which resulted in a much more fluid way of living in the spaces. This also allowed for the social
area to be open without partitions while still maintaining the feeling of having different spaces. It is now possible to stand in the living room and look over to the rear courtyard, the half storey below and through the windows to the river on the opposite side, all at the same time as the sun breaks through the existing south facade. A mini amphitheater comes to my mind.