Casa Tojal is stashed away between an extensive green rural and the urban periphery of the city of Porto de Mós, a town and a municipality in Leiria District, in the Centro Region and the Pinhal Litoral subregion, between Porto and Lisbon, in Portugal.

Casa Tojal is a single-family house which was designed by the Portuguese architecture firm Contaminar Arquitetos back in 2019.
The design by Contaminar Arquitetos, rather than overlooking the surrounding slope, Casa Tojal is envisioned as an "L" house arranged on one level, sited on the centre of slope.  The slope allows to create an arrival sequence through which the scale and features of the house are revealed progressively.

The project pay special attention to solar orientation, the framing of the best view (North / West) and a concern with the couple's daily routine in a logic of different accesses, absence of obstacles and flow of circulation.

The project assumes a simple plasticity, richness of details and striking details. It responds harmoniously to the need for spaces of comfort and tranquility that subtly fit into its landscape and topographic context without losing the poetics and personality that characterize it.
 

Project description by Contaminar Arquitetos

Casa Tojal is shy and bucolic, from a steep terrain surrounded by olive trees. In a torn gesture, it is born as an integral part of its landscape and  it leans over the valley towards the garden that surrounds it.

The challenges and requirements that guided the project went mainly through the question of solar orientation, the framing of the best view (North / West) and a concern with the couple's daily routine in a logic of different accesses, absence of obstacles and flow of circulation.

From a formal point of view, the single family house crosses the land from its highest to the lowest level, and, in an act of geometric continuity, it hides and reveals itself through the relationship it creates with the topography of the place. Its clean design always seeks a sometimes subtle and sometimes contrasting integration, in a game of full balance of this object built in the landscape.

The building on one floor is shaped like an "L". The entrance separates the two concrete volumes, one that emerges from the land and houses the garage and technical areas, and another perpendicular that occupies the total width of the lot but, given its permeable and transparent character, allows a complete continuity of the unfolding of the building. hill that crosses and at the same time it closes to the street and opens to the landscape.

The circulation is made by two parallel and opposite corridors of spatial articulation that extend the entire length of the house. An exterior corridor that is the porch on the south facade and an interior corridor that mirrors and accompanies the porch of the glass facade facing north. This solution allows for a fluid distribution that stimulates the dynamics of the house by providing a distribution through the spaces bathed in the sun and enjoying the generous views.

The program takes place along this central core, ensuring that all divisions gain equally from the solution created, thus standardizing the balance between sun, views, privacy and leisure. The large social areas, the kitchen and the bedrooms, take advantage of this direct relationship between facades. The house develops with a progressive character that evolves from technical and functional areas to social and private areas.

Outside, the slope of the blades maximizes the luminosity in the corridors and the concrete becomes the prominent material with horizontal lines that contrast with the verticality of the exposed wood elements that punctuate the facades.

The project assumes a simple plasticity, richness of details and striking details. It responds harmoniously to the need for spaces of comfort and tranquility that subtly fit into its landscape and topographic context without losing the poetics and personality that characterize it.

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Architects
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Contaminar Arquitetos. Joel Esperança Simões, Ruben Vaz e Eurico Sousa.
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Dates
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2019.
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Contaminar Arquitetos, is an architecture firm, in the Portugal central area, formed by architects from Leiria, Figueira da Foz, Coimbra. It was founded in 2004, in Leiria, by two architects Joel Esperança and Ruben Vaz and one  Product&Interior Designer Romeu Sousa.

Joel Esperança [Leiria, 1980] holds a bachelor's and a master's in architecture from the University School of Arts [EUAC], Coimbra, Portugal, in 2003 and 2012, respectively. Between 2004 and 2005 collaborated with the architecture department of the University School of Arts from Coimbra. In 2005 he co-founded Contaminar®, Leiria based architectural office. Occasionally, he is a master's primary supervisor on architecture final projects.

Ruben Vaz [Coimbra, 1980] holds a bachelor's and a master's in architecture from the University School of Arts [EUAC], Coimbra, Portugal, in 2003 and 2012, respectively. In 2004 collaborated at José Bento architecture, Figueira da Foz, Portugal based architectural office. In 2005 he cofounded Contaminar®, Leiria-based architectural office.

Eurico Sousa [Leiria, 1987] graduated from the University School of Arts [EUAC], Coimbra, Portugal, with a master's in architecture in 2014. Joel Esperança was your primary supervisor in the final project degrees. Between 2014 and 2015 joined Contaminar® as an intern architect of the “order of architects”. Joined Contaminar® as a partner in 2015.

Joaquim Duarte [Leiria, 1970] holds a bachelor's from the University School of Arts [EUAC], Coimbra, Portugal, in 1999. Between 2002 and 2004 he worked as a technical architect mainly in private works, at Leiria city hall. He took part in several projects since 2004 collaborating with other colleagues and teams. Joined Contaminar® as a partner in 2016.
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Published on: April 3, 2020
Cite: "Linked to the ground with identity. Casa Tojal by Contaminar Arquitetos" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/linked-ground-identity-casa-tojal-contaminar-arquitetos> ISSN 1139-6415
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