Casa Peniche

Single storey, thatched, and set low enough into the dunes that the roofline sits below the ridge when seen from the beach path.

Designed to disappear

The brief was that the house should be invisible by day. Sand-toned render, a planted roof edge and no reflective surfaces on the seaward face achieve it almost completely. At night the logic reverses and it becomes the only light for a kilometre in either direction.

Five thousand square metres of protected dune land come with the property. Building rights are exhausted, which is the point.