Casa de Santo António in Estoril was originally designed in 1972 by the architects José Bruschy and Virgílio Leal da Costa.

The original L-shaped house has a volumetric formalization that clearly shows the project intentions. On the northern side, a vertical cylinder and two parallelepiped volumes of different heights, without windows, announce the access from the street. These volumes are blocking the visual contact with the interior of the property and with the landscape to the south. By contrast, when accessing the interior, they open to the south and west expanding it spaces to the garden.

The renovation project took these architectural features into consideration and generally left the form of the building unchanged.

In order to enhance the building’s relationship with the outside, the existing swimming pool was transferred to a lower level, making it invisible from the inside and increasing the garden. The new pergola structure provides a perimeter of shade outside the house and creates an open patio that flows out from the south-facing living rooms and bedrooms. This pergola defined a new outdoor living spaces and the possibility to contemplate the landscape in shaded areas.

Inside the building, the functional layout of the space has been retained, with small adjustments. The kitchen space now opens up into the living area. The thick stone slabs from the original house have been preserved, but the false domed ceilings were removed.

On the southern side, in continuity with the kitchen and dining area, there’s the only extension made to the original volume. A terrace area was created above this new volume, which serves as an outdoor dining space, also shaded by the pergola. The basement beneath this extension contains a new office/studio space.