In the area of Gondomar in Portugal, Paulo Merlini architects designed a residence by giving to the volumes and the materiality of an existing farmhouse a different atmosphere. Combining the existing structures and materials with minimal touches and unique details Casa Rio became the contemporary recreation of a typical Portuguese country house.

-text by the authors

The project results from the remodeling of an old farmhouse located in a rural city. By disassembling the poor materials of the old facade, the architects discovered that the house was actually made up of three small houses, built according to the needs of the former owner.


The main point for the creation of this project, maintaining the structure of the original volumes and assume their original shape uncovered, unifying them through a slab perforated by a central patio that fills with light the entire social area, located on the ground floor. A garden roof finish on this central slab offers a new intimate garden to all rooms and private areas of the house.

In terms of materiality,  the propose was to create a strong contrast between the two floors.

On the ground floor a rougher materiality, denouncing the tectonic of the construction, transmitting the sensation of living inside a granite excavated mass, with a very strong relation with the exterior space.

On the other hand in the upper floor, the geometry of the three original houses is denounced throw their materialization as pure white volumes, flooded with light. On this floor, the high right feet, the wooden shutters, the white and the wooden floors recreate the feeling of a typical Portuguese country house.

Facts & Credits

Project title  Casa Rio

Typology  Renovation, residence

Location Gondomar, Portugal

Status  Completed, 2020

Architects Paulo Merlini Architects

Main architect Paulo Merlini / André Santos Silva

Total area 350 m2

Photography Ivo Tavares Studio


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