In the heart of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, TerraSense Mountain Charm Retreat emerges from the careful transformation of two pre-existing buildings. Designed by Atelier DRK under the direction of Diogo Aguiar Almeida, the project converts former rural houses into a hospitality destination shaped by restraint, material clarity, and a deep respect for its protected setting.
HOTELS
The site sits within one of Portugal’s most environmentally sensitive zones, where strict regulations govern every intervention. Rather than constraining the design, these conditions sharpened its focus. The owners approached the project as a personal calling, seeking to create a rural tourism experience that prioritizes spatial quality while remaining rooted in the silence and raw character of the mountains.
The guiding concept proposes a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional mountain house. The original structures were rebuilt in schist, the region’s defining stone, preserving their tactile connection to local building culture. Atelier DRK introduced a precise architectural language that distinguishes new from old without dissolving continuity. Through a limited palette and a single, deliberate formal gesture, the intervention marks its presence while acknowledging the accumulated layers of time.
Inside, traces of the former dwellings remain perceptible. Yet the spatial organization shifts through carefully calibrated transitions and redefined relationships between rooms. The retreat comprises accommodation units distributed between the main house and a separate villa, each conceived as a distinct spatial environment. Rather than replicate a standardized hotel typology, the design frames each unit as an intimate territory within the broader landscape.
The tension between tradition and contemporaneity becomes visible in the volumes themselves. Grounded in schist masonry, the buildings gain renewed expression through bold cantilevered additions in exposed concrete. These elements project outward toward the mountains, opening interiors to expansive views and establishing direct contact with light, air, and the shifting atmosphere of the Serra da Estrela.
The concrete gestures do not compete with the terrain; they act as precise incisions that frame it. Large openings orient the architecture toward the surrounding slopes, allowing scent, sound, and seasonal variation to enter daily life within the retreat. Through this dialogue, the project positions itself between shelter and exposure, permanence and openness.
