Track Record/Overseas

A client for whom we have done a lot of work in London was looking for a home in Portugal. HEAT found this wonderful farmhouse near Loulé in the Algarve which required renovation. Traditionally in Portugal stone was plentiful – often just picked up from the land around the house, but timber was another matter, and this limited the size of roof span. Country houses were often built as a simple row of rooms – and when the family needed more space they would add another room to the row.

At over 100m long and just 5m deep, we nicknamed this house “Casa Longa” and the reconstruction went back to the bare stone walls. The external appearance remains traditionally Algarvian, but the interior is beautifully simple and has the feel of a gallery with huge ceramic tiles on the floor and art lit by natural light. Our client has a fantastic eye for landscaping and designed the outdoor spaces to evolve gradually into the fields around. It is a stunning setting for a completely unique house.

Contact us at HEAT if you are looking for your perfect Portuguese property.

Project 196

HEAT have been working with ALEF Architects to produce plans for a ski resort hotel North of Moscow including landscaping. The resort includes 40,000 sq ft of restaurants, club rooms, a health spa and the design consists of a series of volumes arranged around an arc with full glazing facing towards the landscape and views.

Project 130

HEAT’s entry for the competition to extend Asplund’s iconic public library has gone on exhibition in Stockholm. The design creates a series of layers – like the pages of a book, radiating from a spine built into the hillside behind and which contains the staircase and circulation. The largely glazed skin is supported on timber laminated columns, echoing the aspen trees that Asplund used in his own work.

Project 100

HEAT were invited by a UK based client to redesign a hillside house in Ibiza. Outside of the clubs of Ibiza town the countryside remains peaceful and unspoilt and this villa had been built over four floors by a retired German architect. In our redesign we added a lift and rearranged the interior spaces creating open plan family spaces with dramatic views.

Project 081

Located in the Quinta do Lago estate in the Algarve, this was a project to restore a neglected retro 1970’s beach villa into sophisticated contemporary living space.  HEAT rebuilt the wings of the house and glazed over the double-height central courtyard creating a house that works well for two people or can be opened up for twenty.

The shape of the pool was determined by visiting the house at different times and placing bamboo sticks in the ground as the sun tracked round the site.

Project 047