Windmill House by BOX Arquitectos in the Azores, Portugal

Project: Windmill House
Architects: BOX Arquitectos
Location: Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal
Area: 1,184 sq ft
Year: 2021
Photography by: Ivo Tavares Studio

Windmill House by BOX Arquitectos

Set within a well-established urban landscape in the heart of Ponta Delgada, this design responds to the brief for a very small single-story house with two floors: the ground floor is dedicated to one communal space, while two small bedrooms are located on the upper level.

With only 4.20 meters of frontage and no space for urban pedestrian movement, the façade becomes a child's dream of a house... one door and one window.

In this sense, the main façade side is purely a boundary between interior and exterior space, without the need to interact with either except to be in the way.

The program develops without requiring transitions or divisions of space. The only communal area of the house gains depth when it meets the garden at the end of the space. The garden establishes a balance between the house and private addition at the end of the plot.

On the upper floor, the east bedroom features a terrace offering views of houses forming the urban form characteristic to the area.

The need for an impression of greater space becomes possible through roof lanterns that bring light and spread it throughout the interior spaces, functioning as a "diaphragm" that enhances the "vertical perspective".

-Project description and images provided by Ivo Tavares Studio