Quinta do Rei / Contaminar Arquitetos

Sited amid an elevated landscape with a steep slope in Leiria, Portugal, the Quinta do Rei, deigned by studio Contaminar Arquitetos emerges as a monolithic volume with an eye-catching concrete skin.

The villa is located in an elevated area with a strong slope in the city of Leiria. The conditions of the subdivision suggested a volumetry of a tower, a viewpoint over the city. One of our premises was that the social areas were located on the upper floors and the swimming pool on the roof, to enjoy the 360º view.

The house is the transformation of a regular cobblestone with the rotation on an axis that generates a new, more plastic shape, which optimizes the sun exposure and allows areas of balconies, shading, and circulations, from the ground to the roof, being a ladder from earth to heaven.

The structure and the concrete outer skin are felt as a single body, rhythmic with 18 horizontal rings, a section corresponding to the height of 2 steps, which design the house in a game of full and empty, creating a protective filter, both solar and private, for those who inhabit it. Inside, the house consists of half floors that connect some of the spaces with each other, while making others separate and autonomous.