Cerro d’Águia: a house on dry-stone terraces

The project

A house of more than 2 000 m² above the sea in Albufeira, carried on dry-stone terraces that absorb the slope and hide the parking. In licensing.

What we were responsible for

A house of more than 2 000 m² built on a falling site above the sea, held by a base of dry-stone terraces that does most of the work: it takes up the slope, hides the parking, and leaves a single long horizontal volume on top with a green roof over it. The plot allows 1 120 m² of footprint and 2 241 m² of construction; the basement holds the cars, which under the local regulation may exceed the footprint because it sits below the access road. Inside, the plan runs east to west so that the living room, the dining room and the pool all face the same horizon. The commission is the architecture and the engineering, under one design contract, and it is in licensing.

Who built it

WALLNUT was responsible for the design. No construction contract has been awarded — and the work can go to site with us, under a single contract.

What this does not include

Aerial views of this house are not published because they show neighbouring houses in detail. The application is still running at the council and nothing is built. The piano in the renders is a prop. The construction contract has not been awarded.

Verified facts

Gross floor area
+2 000 m²
Plot
3 735,50 m²
Maximum footprint the plot allows
1 120,65 m² — a coefficient of 0,30
Maximum construction the plot allows
2 241,30 m² — a coefficient of 0,60
Levels above ground
2 plus a basement for parking
Status
— in licensing, answering council queries since December 2024

Images

A long infinity pool running the length of the house towards the sea, the water meeting the horizon, with loungers on the stone deck and a planted upper edge above the glazing. — The pool is the length of the house, and it points at one thing.

The house seen from across the valley: dry-stone terraces stepping up the slope, the pool inserted into them, and a single low horizontal volume with a green roof sitting on top, pine and scrub all around. — The terraces do the work. What sits on them is one storey tall.

An entrance courtyard cut into the volume, walls lined in vertical timber, a planted parapet overhanging above, and the sea visible through the house on the far side. — You see the sea before you are inside.

The same pool at dusk, lit from below, a continuous line of light under the roof edge and the sea gone dark beyond. — One continuous line of light under the roof, and nothing else.

The living room: low pale seating around a stone table, a timber-lined wall to one side, sliding glazing on two sides and the sea at the end of the room. — Two of the four walls open. The other two are timber.

The dining room seen head on: a long table for twelve against an uninterrupted wall of glass, a cluster of pale sculptural pendants above it and the ocean filling the whole opening. — Twelve at the table, and one window the width of the room.

A double-height living space with a curved sculptural stair rising through it, a grand piano beneath, deep sofas on both sides and a ribbon of light following the curve of the ceiling. — The stair is the only curve in the house.

The kitchen: a pale stone island with three stools, a full-height timber wall behind it, integrated units flush with the panelling and a glazed wine store to the left. — Everything that is not stone is timber, and nothing shows a handle.

Other work

A house lifted so the view stays whole — Vilamoura
Five-bedroom house with a pool
Cerro d’Águia: the house that stands up
Private house
Loja Hagra: a showroom built around seven shipping containers
Retail and showroom

Reading note

On this page, 8 renders of the design. None of it is a photograph: there is nothing yet to photograph. The furniture and art in the renders show the design intent; they are not a specification. We do not publish the client. No costs, prices or margins are published.

Contact us