Terrasense retreat blends schist heritage with contemporary concrete in Portugal’s mountains

Set within the protected landscape of Serra da Estrela Natural Park, TerraSense Mountain Charm Retreat emerges from the careful transformation of two pre existing buildings. Conceived as both a rural hotel and a place of retreat, the project reinterprets the traditional mountain house through a contemporary architectural lens, shaped by silence, solitude and one of Portugal’s most strictly regulated natural environments.

The commission was driven by a personal calling on the part of the owners, who sought not only to create a destination but to establish a way of inhabiting the landscape. The ambition lay in achieving a high degree of spatial refinement while remaining deeply attuned to the raw character of the site. Environmental constraints, rather than limiting the project, became a framework for precision, restraint and clarity of intent.

The original structures were preserved and rebuilt in schist, the emblematic stone of the region, anchoring the project firmly within local construction traditions. Rather than mimic the past, the architecture introduces a new language through a singular and clearly legible gesture. A minimal palette of materials and forms marks the moment of intervention, allowing the distinction between old and new to remain explicit and honest.

This balance between continuity and transformation defines the architectural approach. The schist volumes carry the weight of memory and permanence, while contemporary additions assert themselves with calm confidence, articulating a dialogue across time without resorting to nostalgia.

Inside, the spaces retain subtle traces of the former houses, yet they are fundamentally reconfigured. Circulation is no longer linear or predictable, but composed through a sequence of compressed and expanded moments, framed views and carefully calibrated thresholds. The architecture invites movement that is slow and attentive, encouraging occupants to remain aware of their surroundings.

Each accommodation unit is conceived as an independent spatial world. Whether housed within the main structure or the separate villa, every room establishes a distinct relationship with the landscape, offering varied degrees of openness, intimacy and orientation toward the mountains. The result is not a standardized hotel experience, but a series of personal encounters with place.

The project’s most defining architectural move lies in its cantilevered concrete volumes. Emerging from the grounded mass of schist, these exposed concrete elements introduce a contemporary counterpoint, projecting outward toward the surrounding terrain. Their boldness is measured rather than expressive, serving a clear spatial purpose.

Through these extensions, the architecture opens itself to light, air and expansive views. Windows are not treated as apertures but as instruments of immersion, framing the rhythms of weather, vegetation and distant horizons. Sound, scent and shifting light become integral to the interior experience, dissolving the boundary between building and landscape.

TerraSense Mountain Charm Retreat is conceived less as a place to pass through than as a setting for lingering. The architecture resists spectacle, favouring instead a condition of quiet intensity, where material weight, spatial depth and environmental presence work in unison.

In this remote corner of Serra da Estrela, the project demonstrates how contemporary architecture can engage protected landscapes with sensitivity and precision. By embracing constraints as generative forces, it offers a model of rural hospitality grounded in contemplation, slowness and a profound respect for place.

Project Credit

Project name: TerraSense Mountain Charm Retreat
Architecture Office: Atelier DRK / @drk.atelier
Location: Videmonte – Guarda (Serra Estrela)
Year of conclusion : 2023
Total area:  510.00m2
Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio / @ivotavaresstudio