The Melides House was the winner in the Habitação Unifamiliar category of the Prémios Forma 2024. The jury highlighted the way the house integrates with its surroundings and its apparent simplicity, the result of a refined design process.
Jury Statement:
The Melides House
At first glance, the site appears larger than the house itself. Serene and horizontal, like the surrounding landscape. A single-storey white house, with carefully designed windows and a chimney. One would never guess it had to accommodate a program twice the size of the permitted footprint, nor that it had to respect the perimeter of the former ruin. The house was built downward, bringing light into the half that lies beneath the earth. Both the process and the outcome are unique—yet the result shows no sign of effort.
On closer inspection, we are drawn to the thought process behind the house and its formal expression.
The Melides House stands out for the intelligence of its approach to a vacation or second residence, built in a rural setting—a common practice today. We have witnessed the replacement of old structures with new ones, sometimes with the obligation to preserve ruins. This contemporary dynamic often leads to a scattered and incoherent occupation of the Portuguese landscape in terms of scale, form, and construction. In contrast, the Melides House shows a desire for integration—a natural “immersion” into its place.
The house is also remarkable for its apparent simplicity, the result of a refined design process:
- in the horizontality of its form, integrated with both the local vernacular and the surrounding landscape;
- in the unity of its composition, generated through the elemental design of its components—walls, chimneys, interior and exterior platforms, windows, cabinets, benches, planters, and more;
- in the well-proportioned play of internal relationships, based on repetition and spatial similarity;
- in the presence of white, which coats all materials and construction elements, allowing natural light to become the main shaper of space;
- in the geometry that structures the entire design, both in plan and section, allowing for the creation of hidden patios;
- in the pragmatic construction strategies using systems and materials that evoke the traditional ideals of whitewashed masonry;
And, finally,
- in the way the house invites us to imagine an informal way of living—in open, multifunctional, bright, ventilated, and comfortable spaces.
For all these reasons, the Melides House, designed by the studio JAA – José Adrião Arquitectos, was unanimously awarded first place in the Habitação Unifamiliar category of the Prémios Forma 2024.
Lisbon, April 21, 2025