House PV in São João do Estoril, Portugal
9 June 2026
Architecture: Nuno Nascimento Arquitectos
Location: São João do Estoril, Portugal
Photos: Francisco Nogueira
Architecture rarely begins with a blank slate.
Located in São João do Estoril, House PV transforms an existing residential building shaped by successive additions and adaptations over time. Rather than preserving or replacing it, the ambition was to uncover a new order capable of reconciling these accumulated layers into a single architectural presence.
The intervention focused on clarifying the existing volume. A heavy and fragmented roof structure that dominated the building’s image was removed and replaced by a recessed upper volume. Instead of adding complexity, the project sought to eliminate the visual noise that had accumulated over decades, reducing the building to what was considered essential.
The result is an architecture that feels both familiar and unfamiliar: a building that remains recognisable in its scale and footprint, yet whose identity has been fundamentally transformed.
The site’s topography reinforces this condition. Positioned between Avenida Marques Leal and Rua Vasco da Gama, the building reveals itself differently from each street, oscillating between restraint and openness. From the upper level, it appears discreetly behind vegetation and existing walls.
From below, its presence becomes more evident, opening towards terraces, balconies and outdoor spaces oriented towards the landscape.
The entire spatial reorganisation was driven by the search for light and views. The social spaces occupy the highest level of the house, where the Atlantic horizon becomes part of everyday life. Large openings frame the landscape without turning it into spectacle; the view is treated as another architectural element, as important as proportion, shadow or material.
Inside, architecture attempts to disappear. Light-coloured surfaces, natural stone and timber create a calm and restrained atmosphere in which light becomes the project’s primary medium. Throughout the day, spaces are transformed less by objects than by the movement of light across walls, floors and structural planes.
More than an extension, the project can be understood as an act of reduction. A process of subtraction through which an ordinary building was progressively distilled into its most elementary components: volume, light, material and landscape.
Architect: Nuno Nascimento Arquitectos – https://www.nunonascimento.com/
Photography: Francisco Nogueira
House PV, São João do Estoril, Portugal home images / information received 090626
Location: Oeiras, Lisbon Region, Portugal, southwestern Europe.
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