HOSPITALITY

RIO DO PRADO HOTEL

Óbidos . 2010

Design year
2010
Construction year
2011 - 2012
Location
Arelho, Óbidos, Portugal
Team
Jorge Sousa Santos, Vyernu Patel, Ismael Prata, João Gameiro Neves, Eliana Trindade, Bruno Ferraz
Client
Carbono XXI

Gallery

About the project

Rio do Prado is a small rural hotel developed from the concept nature as creator, treating the landscape as the determining element of the project. The architecture seeks a direct relationship with the territory, reducing both its physical and visual presence.

The programme is distributed across ten accommodation modules, with flexibility to operate as fifteen rooms. Their placement follows a strict rule of minimal impact: the volumes are partially embedded in the ground and covered by a continuous vegetated layer, returning the built footprint to the soil. Only the glazed main façade remains visible, acting simultaneously as access and as the primary source of natural light.

Materiality is addressed in a direct manner. Exposed concrete is combined with large vertical timber shutters, which regulate privacy and establish continuity with the surrounding vegetation.

The reception and restaurant building forms the core of the ensemble. It is defined by a south-facing curved glazed façade, optimising passive solar performance and structuring the collective space, drawing guests towards views over the gardens and the water planes that organise the exterior route.