PINHAL DE ALCACER - Promontorio

PINHAL
DE ALCACER
Alcacer (Alentejo), Portugal, 2006 – 2008
RESIDENTIAL
Location Alcacer (Alentejo), Portugal
Property Square Asset Management
Programme Allotment with 130 plot units for 2- to 5-bdr villas
Gross Built Area 24,000 sq.m
Plot Size 9 ha
Estimated Investment EUR 38m
Project Status 2006 (concept design) – 2008 (allotment built)
4-bdr villa
Presentation model
www.promontorio.net

PINHAL DE ALCACER
Alcacer (Alentejo), Portugal, 2006 – 2008
5-bdr villa
2-bdr villa
5-bdr villa
4-bdr villa
Model 5-bdr villa Model 2-bdr villa Model 4-bdr villa
PROMONTORIO was invited to design
the concept and master plan for an
estate of second homes. Located at
short distance from the historic centre
of Alcacer do Sal, on the former main
road connecting Lisbon to the Algarve,
the plot was the last remaining part of a
larger farm known as Quinta do Pinhal.
The ruins which remain there, are
reminders of the site’s agricultural
past (olive oil and orange groves), and
the water well drilling and bottling
operations are still evident in the array
of tanks, wells and water towers spread
across the property.
In addition to the renovation of the ruined
buildings, the 2-storey villa of the former
landowner, built in the typical naïve
vernacular style of the 1920s, has been
kept as a memory of the place’s history.
The layout of the estate was planned with
the intention of preserving as many trees
as possible, most of which were olive
groves planted on an orthogonal matrix
to improve agricultural production. The
streets are laid out in light grey granite
cobblestones, which allow rainwater to
percolate through, blend with the local
landscape and reduce the gradient impact
of the plots.
In order to guarantee the coherence of
the overall design, both the developer and
the individual plot owners are obliged
to comply fully with the regulations for
the design and building of the projected
4-bdr and 5-bdr villas. With large
open plan areas and a straightforward
programme, these villas aim to
establish a bond between the Alentejo’s
traditional whitewashed architecture
and contemporary ideas of simplicity
and synthesis in design. The contrasting
shades produced by the intense light
of the region reinforce the tension
coming from the atectonic geometry
of the cantilevered volumes with their
perplexing and unusual lengths.
www.promontorio.net