A Geometric Statement

Sheathed in sustainable wood that evokes the likeness of a nest, the award-winning casa a by rem’a arquitectos uses voids to create private spaces that are compellingly open.

- Pearlie Tan

Distinguished as the ArchDaily Building of the Year in 2020 in the category of Best Applied Products, Casa A is a striking contemporary home on the outskirts of the historic city of Guimarães, north of Portugal.

Driven by the client’s request for privacy, REM’A Arquitectos reinterpreted the urban rules of the neighbourhood with a twostorey design, composed of a transparent social area set on the ground level and a sealed-up, nest-like upper massing with three bedrooms.

“The main idea comes from the intention to create a massive volume, closed as a nest, that shows indifference to the relations with the surrounding areas,” explains Romeu Ribeiro and José Pedro Marques, cofounders of REM’A Arquitectos.

“The nest on the upper floor defines and shapes the project.”

Harmoniously integrated within a densely-built neighbourhood, the monolith is clad with wooden battens of sustainable Lunawood Thermowood that shelter the private spaces of the residence.

A concrete base was chosen as a technical, formal and visual solution for the structure, while the dominant upper volume is sheathed in silver-grey timber panels in a diagonal pattern, which has a subtle woven quality, much like a nest.

“We look for materials that can give us another dimension, a sensorial experience,” says Ribeiro and Marques.

BUILDING AROUND VOIDS

To negotiate the sloping topography of the 1300m² site, a flat plane was carved into the hillside and demarcated by a concrete shear wall that extends along two sides of the recessed ground floor, from the buried garage, past the kitchen and living areas to the end of the poolside patio.