SOBREIRAS - ALENTEJO COUNTRY HOTEL / FAT - FUTURE ARCHITECTURE THINKING

The Sobreiras – Alentejo Country Hotel designed by FAT – Future Architecture Thinking is located on a property of about 25 ha in the Serra de Grândola, 200 m above sea level, punctuated by cork oak trees holm oaks, olive trees and varied endogenous vegetation. Gentle hills and a vibrant landscape extend to a distant horizon. Only an hour from Lisbon and a few minutes from Grândola village, the rural context within which the property belongs greatly favored by the particular beauty of the site, determined the guiding concept – to promote the enjoyment of nature and the discovery of the regional culture.

 

The purpose was to value and favor the rural environment surrounding the hotel, taking it as theme, seeking to provide a space to enjoy the countryside, full of comfort and quiet, in a simple and contemporary atmosphere. In the hilltop chosen to deploy the hotel, the view extends panoramically facing east. The mountain fauna is revealed in the sounds which inhabit the fields. The constantly changing sky transforms the landscape multiplying its views. Time passes peacefully and slowly.

 

The buildings, formally developed from the combined volumes of evoking the traditional image of a house, seek identification with the characteristics of the traditional regional architecture, in the sobriety of lines and materials. Wooden logs used in facades establish a dialogue with the surrounding landscape, contrasting with these white buildings of simple and refined geometry.

 

The concern about the buildings thermal stability, essential to the sustainable management of energy resources required to operate the hotel and to the comfort of the facilities, reflects in some of the architectural options taken. Openings are preferably facing east, as in regional traditional architecture, for protection from the strong sun intensity facing west. The systems selected to satisfy each of the technical needs of the building, is concerned with respect for the ecosystem and aim to the efficiency and sustainability of the entire set.

 

In order to optimize resources, the building system combines calcium silicate panels and a roof support structure in metal profiles. The panels consist of two calcium silicate sheets, which provide rigidity, filled with mortar and EPS, which guarantees lightness and higher thermal and acoustic resistance to the panel, adapting it to the most diverse uses. Since water is a key resource, the climatic characteristics of a region such as Alentejo impose the demand of its optimal management.

 

The landscape design intervenes subtly into the territory aiming to preserve and highlight its natural characteristics. The intervention focuses on west side of the hill, where the access and the buildings stand, leaving intact the east side that forms the natural setting of the Hotel. Maintaining the natural dynamic of this site is the cornerstone of this intervention which in exterior space lies in the use of natural and environmentally friendly materials. The access path to the Hotel is made of grit for a better landscape integration and to preserve the soil permeability.

 

Each building is preceded and framed by a bushy strip, which follows the entire footpath access to rooms, exacerbating the mutability of the landscape through the different expressions which it assumes throughout the year. The definition of planted areas has been reduced to the essentials – minimizing the use of irrigation and maintenance – leaving centre stage to the cork oak forest. The remaining land preserves the natural characteristics of the Alentejo landscape – the “montado”, the upland meadows and the inherent seasonality – which constitute the very essence of the intervention. The various outdoor spaces are designed for leisure, taking advantage of the extraordinary beauty of the landscape, and the infinity pool seems to invite to a genuine dip in nature, with the horizon as far as the eye can see.