Quinta das Camélias

Bringing unity to a singular place

Located in the romantic environment of Serra de Sintra, also known as the mountain of the Moon since ancestral times that inspires poets and artists, the proposal promotes the regeneration of Quinta das Camélias as part of the mountain ecosystem, respecting the natural and built landscape by valuing and improving the functional and material performance of the pre-existing buildings. In the light of environmental sustainability, the existing architectural, constructive and spatial characteristics are preserved, adapted to a new program and modern lifestyles. The new volume’s morphology is the result of the intersection of the organicity and the telluric sense of the place.

The intervention includes a small palace and its extension, a chapel, a greenhouse, a recreational pavilion, two ruins and an autonomous single-family house. The renewed small palace’s ground floor accommodates a kitchen and dining room. A large living room overlooks the Serra to the North and the landscape to the East with a balcony that extends the narrative of the predominant vegetation in the interior space. The green roof creates a visual continuity between the building and the surrounding landscape. The large windows invite to enjoy the landscape in a new way. Provided with a multipurpose room and sauna, the south pavilion is dedicated to health and leisure.