Extrastudio coats "radically simple" holiday home in Portugal with earth-toned plaster

A minimalist gabled form, cantilevered terraces and earth-toned lime plaster define Casa Plaj, a holiday home in Portugal designed by local practice Extrastudio.

Located near a coastal village in Portugal's Lourinhã region, the 120-square-metre home is described by the studio as a "radically simple" structure that draws on the area's rural architecture.

Lisbon-based Extrastudio raised Casa Plaj on four load-bearing concrete walls, allowing the surrounding landscape to flow beneath its overhanging terraces, and finished it with a purposefully rough layer of earth-toned plaster.

"Lourinhã has never been a wealthy area; buildings are modest and simple, and sit naturally in the landscape, in a way that has somehow been forgotten by buildings from recent decades," said the studio.

"We wanted to make a radically simple form for this house, combining elements used in historic local buildings in a way that is only possible in the present," added Extrastudio.

"Free from daily obligations, a holiday house allows a certain level of freedom and experimentation. It should be generous, informal, physically present, imposing its own time and pace."

Above the concrete podium, which incorporates an access stair, Casa Plaj is organised across a single level, with a living, dining and kitchen area to the south and three bedrooms to the north.

Flanking an entrance courtyard, which is concealed behind a sliding gate of slatted timber, each of the bedrooms opens out onto a cantilevering side terrace via deep-set sliding glass doors.

The living area sits beneath a high, sloping ceiling punctured by an ocular skylight, with a suspended black-steel fireplace at its eastern end and a marble kitchen counter opposite.

This skylight aligns with a series of high, circular cut-outs in the home's walls, the position of which was determined using 3D modelling to allow a beam of sunlight to illuminate each room before sunset.

Casa Plaj's dining area opens out onto a dedicated cantilevering terrace, overlooking the sea in the distance as well as a long, narrow swimming pool in the home's garden.

"Simple architectural devices enable and encourage flexibility and informality," explained the studio.

"The windows recede completely into the walls, transforming the house into a large alfresco space, extending the indoors outdoors and allowing moments like bathing to become open-air experiences," it added.

Inside, the rough materiality of the exterior has been carried through into grey plaster walls and angled ceilings with a similarly rough, uneven finish, complemented by smooth concrete floors.

Extrastudio was founded in Lisbon in 2003. Previous projects by the studio include the transformation of a winery in southern Portugal into a family home and a delicatessen with a decorative perforated ceiling.

The photography is by Clemens Poloczek.

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