After thirty years of vacationing in the Algarve, a retired couple decided to transform their two-story home into one that would be easier to move around in. “Their previous holiday home spread over two floors and made it difficult to use with ongoing age,” Core Architects said.

“As passive house architects, we attach great importance to sustainability and the use of ecological building materials,” Core Architects said. “This combination is not always linear to solve.”

In order to build this project, called Villa GK, more sustainably, the architects oriented the house to optimize cross ventilation for natural cooling and installed a solar thermal system for water heating. “Portugal is the world's largest exporter of cork,” the architects said, so they insulated the facade with cork boards and used cork caulking.

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record, Interior Design: Core Architects / @core_architects

Builder: Mestre Construtivo

Structural and Civil Engineer: Miguel Dias

Landscape Design: Cando Jardins

Cabinetry Installation: Sérgio Borralho

Photography: Alexander Bogorodskiy / @photoshootportugal

Other: Equitone