Vila Adell
Lisbon, 2021

This housing complex lies within the special protection zone of the Chapel of Santo Amaro, Palácio Burnay, Salão Pompeia, the Casa Nobre de Lázaro Leitão Aranha and Palácio da Ega.

The Vila is reached through a passageway entered from no. 62 Rua D. João de Castro, which opens onto a long interior courtyard around which the existing buildings are arranged in two parallel “rows”.

The Vila was incomplete and looked unbalanced in terms of a logical use of the site; it is not known why the fourth building was never built. On one side stand the single-storey buildings — those backing onto the buildings that face the street — and on the other, a two-storey building. All three buildings are long and narrow, with one façade facing the courtyard and a continuous rear façade facing narrow light wells along their entire length.

The works added an extra storey to the single-storey buildings and built a new two-storey building matching the existing one. The project completed the definition of the Vila and its built ensemble, while also enhancing and upgrading the outdoor courtyard.

To preserve the character of the extended single-storey buildings, an external staircase was built, and the upper-floor homes are reached via a gallery running the full length of the façade.

In terms of massing, the pitched roofs of the existing buildings were kept. The new building and the bathroom blocks were built with flat roofs finished in river pebbles.