An elevated view reveals the house’s layered volumes stepping with the slope, Corten steel wrapping green roofs planted with native species. Full-height glazing dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior, presenting the architecture as an extension of the hillside rather than an isolated object.

Casa Corten: A Site-Driven House by HPA Arquitetura in Northern Portugal

Words by Yatzer

Celorico de Basto, Portugal

Located on a forested slope in northern Portugal, Casa Corten is a carefully calibrated response to the plot’s terrain and orientation as well as its history. Designed by Hugo Pereira of HPA Arquitetura, the four-bedroom house occupies the site of a former timber factory, long reduced to ruins. Rather than erasing this industrial past, the project builds upon it, both materially and spatially, using the site’s constraints as the primary drivers of form and organisation. Wrapped in corten steel and embedded within naturalistically planted gardens, the house is conceived as a structure that changes over time: as the metallic envelope slowly oxidises and wild shrubs and grasses mature, architecture and landscape will settle into a shared, evolving equilibrium.

A serene horizon unfolds beyond the pool’s edge, where still water meets a low Corten steel parapet and dense woodland. The restrained geometry allows the landscape to dominate, with distant mountains softened by haze. The scene captures the house’s quiet confidence—architecture receding so nature can take the lead.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

An exterior view situates Casa Corten within its sloping landscape, where oxidised steel volumes and green roofs merge with planted terrain. Large glazed openings reveal the interior’s timber warmth, underscoring the project’s aim to settle architecture and landscape into a shared, evolving equilibrium.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

An elevated view reveals the house’s layered volumes stepping with the slope, Corten steel wrapping green roofs planted with native species. Full-height glazing dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior, presenting the architecture as an extension of the hillside rather than an isolated object.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Partially submerged within the pool, a figure rests against a concrete edge as vegetation frames the scene. The moment humanises the architecture, highlighting how the water element doubles as both leisure space and spatial threshold between built form and descending terrain.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • The elongated façade stretches across the slope, combining continuous glazing with oxidised steel panels. Wild grasses and shrubs grow close to the building, blurring boundaries between architecture and ground. The image highlights how the house’s sectional logic and material palette reinforce its low visual impact and site-driven design.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • A sharply angled corner detail showcases the tactile quality of corten steel alongside a perforated brise-soleil. Subtle tonal variations reveal the material’s weathering over time, while the juxtaposition of solid and porous surfaces reflects the project’s balance between protection, privacy, and openness to light and air.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • A planted courtyard moment captures a young tree rising between corten-clad volumes and reflective glazing. The contrast between crisp architectural edges and delicate foliage highlights the project’s intent to allow landscape to inhabit the building envelope, fostering a slow, evolving coexistence between structure and nature.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • A close view of the planted void shows Corten steel walls enclosing a narrow garden corridor, where young trees and groundcover soften the industrial surfaces. Sunlight casts crisp shadows across oxidised steel, highlighting how landscape is used as an active spatial and environmental mediator.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • A close-up of the upper volume reveals corten steel cladding wrapping sharply defined edges, punctuated by floor-to-ceiling glazing. The angled geometry follows the site’s contours, while reflections of sky and trees dissolve the building’s mass, underscoring the project’s careful calibration between enclosure, light, and landscape.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A wide exterior view shows Casa Corten embedded into a wooded slope, its rust-toned steel volumes stepping gently with the terrain. Green roofs and native planting soften the geometry, allowing architecture and landscape to merge. The composition emphasises horizontality, restraint, and a deliberate dialogue between oxidised steel, glass, and evolving vegetation.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • An aerial view reveals Casa Corten’s roofscape as a planted terrain, punctuated by sharply cut Corten-lined voids. Native grasses and low shrubs spread across gravel beds, while precise steel edges articulate circulation gaps below, underscoring the project’s strategy of merging architecture, landscape, and section into a single, legible surface.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • Seen from above, the house unfolds as a series of angled volumes and planted roofs, stitched together by a glazed stair volume. Corten steel frames carve light wells and circulation paths, transforming the roof into an inhabited landscape that reveals the project’s careful calibration of privacy, light, and movement.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

The plot’s steep slope and east-facing orientation presented immediate challenges. Instead of levelling the land, the architects fragmented the building into a series of low-slung, prismatic volumes that follow the natural contours of the site, each one subtly angled to optimise orientation, privacy, and views. This approach reduces the visual impact of the house, making it appear as an extension of the terrain rather than an object imposed upon it. Extensive green roofs reinforce this strategy, blurring the boundary between built and natural surfaces while allowing vegetation to reclaim the roofscape.

Rather than being pushed fully into the hillside, the structure is deliberately set back from the slope, creating a narrow, planted gap that allows daylight to reach the lower level from both sides. Circulation is organised around this void, with a long, glazed corridor running parallel to it, connecting the four bedrooms downstairs to the social spaces above via a glass-enclosed staircase, as well as to the underground garage. This linear spine maintains a constant visual relationship with the terrain while structuring movement through the house.

Viewed from within, the concrete stair becomes a sculptural hinge between levels, washed in filtered daylight. Timber-lined walls and darkened concrete ceilings lend a grounded, monastic calm, while reflections in the glazing blur interior and exterior, reinforcing the project’s quiet dialogue between inhabitation and topography.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A double-height threshold dissolves boundaries between interior and terrain, with full-height glazing framing the concrete stair as a continuation of the landscape. Warm timber panelling contrasts with raw concrete and weathered steel outside, while a solitary figure in motion underscores the house’s choreography of movement, light, and layered spatial depth.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • Golden timber wall panels catch low sunlight, their grain accentuated by crisp shadow lines cast from the stair above. The composition highlights the project’s restrained material palette—wood, concrete, and steel—used with precision to create warmth and depth within an otherwise rigorous, minimalist architectural language.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • A stepped stair rises beneath a sharply angled skylight, where timber beams and glass panes slice daylight deep into the plan. Corten steel cladding wraps the upper volume, its weathered surface contrasting with smooth concrete planes, while a fleeting human presence underscores the stair’s role as both connector and inhabitable pause.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • Viewed from below, the stairwell becomes a sculptural shaft of light, defined by intersecting concrete walls, timber framing, and a faceted glass roof. Sunlight washes across warm wood surfaces and oxidised steel, animating the vertical void and emphasising the house’s layered relationship between structure, light, and movement.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A glazed corridor runs tightly alongside the sloping terrain, its floor-to-ceiling glass dissolving the boundary between interior and earth. Solid timber posts and a raw concrete ceiling frame shifting reflections of soil and vegetation, turning circulation into a quiet, immersive encounter with the landscape rather than a neutral passage.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A long internal corridor stretches toward daylight, framed by exposed concrete and dark timber panels. Soft curtains filter light along one side, while a blurred figure in motion introduces a sense of scale and lived-in rhythm, emphasising circulation as an experiential sequence rather than a purely functional passage.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Inside a lower-level bedroom, exposed concrete surfaces frame a wide window overlooking planted grasses. A child seated on the window ledge introduces scale and quiet domestic life, while soft daylight and filtered views prevent the space from feeling embedded, emphasising comfort through light, distance, and landscape continuity.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A bathroom and circulation zone align along a glazed corridor, where concrete volumes, timber doors, and minimal fixtures create a disciplined spatial rhythm. A passing figure introduces movement against the stillness of raw materials, reinforcing the house’s balance between rigor, domestic use, and lived experience.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A compact bathroom unfolds behind glass, where exposed concrete walls and ceiling create a monolithic enclosure softened by filtered daylight. A slim black shower fixture and a framed view of surrounding foliage introduce contrast and intimacy, reinforcing the project’s dialogue between raw materiality, privacy, and carefully controlled openness to nature.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A sculptural concrete sink is paired with matte black fittings and a rough-hewn wooden bench, balancing precision with tactility. Subtle imperfections in the surfaces catch the light, underscoring the project’s commitment to material authenticity and restrained detailing over decorative excess.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

An open-plan bedroom and bathroom are articulated through freestanding concrete planes rather than full enclosures. Raw surfaces, integrated fixtures, and warm timber accents define a calm, almost ascetic atmosphere, where spatial continuity replaces separation and material honesty becomes the primary design language.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Oriented downhill to take advantage of the expansive landscape, the bedrooms feature generous, wall-to-wall glazing that opens onto views filtered by planted grasses and vegetation, lending the otherwise compact rooms a sense of openness and depth.

Above, the plan opens up to accommodate the kitchen, dining, and living areas in a continuous, flexible sequence. Fully glazed façades establish an almost panoramic relationship with the surroundings, while the southern elevation is screened by a perforated corten steel brise-soleil. Both a sun-shading device and visual filter, the latter tempers solar exposure, enhances privacy, and reinforces the project’s material identity. Outdoor spaces extend the living areas through patios, terraces, and a pool set within a naturalistic landscape, maintaining the project’s emphasis on continuity rather than contrast.

  • In the bathroom, exposed concrete walls and a full-height glazed opening create a monastic atmosphere softened by natural light. Views toward the terrain are carefully controlled, allowing privacy while maintaining a quiet connection to the outdoors, consistent with the project’s restrained, site-sensitive ethos.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • Looking upward through a narrow glazed cut, sky and concrete converge in a precise geometric frame. The skylight draws daylight deep into the house, transforming an infrastructural void into a contemplative moment where raw materiality meets shifting atmospheric conditions.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • An intimate courtyard is revealed through floor-to-ceiling glazing, where a slender tree casts shifting shadows onto corten steel walls. The composition blurs interior and exterior, allowing light, vegetation, and weathered metal to animate the space and reinforce the house’s evolving relationship with its landscape.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • Seen from beneath the projecting roofline, the steel-clad soffit frames a sequence of glass panels overlooking the valley. Tall grasses sway alongside the façade, reinforcing a biophilic sensibility. The composition underscores the house’s horizontal emphasis and its measured relationship with climate, views, and seasonal change.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

The kitchen and adjacent seating area align along a glazed façade, with slender pendant lights hovering like punctuation marks. Weathered steel, timber, and concrete converge in a layered composition, while distant views seep through the screened envelope, reinforcing the home’s biophilic sensibility.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Seen through layers of perforated metal, the kitchen island appears partially veiled, its dark stone surface reflecting muted daylight. The screen modulates transparency and privacy, casting a subtle grid across the space and reinforcing the project’s nuanced control of light, enclosure, and visual permeability.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A pair of leather lounge chairs sits in quiet conversation with the landscape beyond perforated steel screens. Light filters softly through the façade, animating textures of rusted metal and concrete floors, and creating an atmosphere of reflective calm that balances raw materiality with domestic comfort.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A close-up vignette pairs a leather lounge chair with oxidised Corten steel and perforated metal screens, foregrounding the house’s tactile material language. Sunlight grazes stitched leather, rusted steel, and concrete flooring, revealing a palette that balances industrial robustness with crafted comfort, while filtered views maintain a soft visual link to the landscape beyond.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A figure pauses beside the kitchen island, silhouetted against filtered daylight and perforated screens. The scene captures the house’s human scale: tactile materials, soft shadows, and a measured relationship between enclosure and openness, where architecture frames stillness as much as movement.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A compact living space unfolds in warm timber and dark steel, anchored by a low leather sofa and patterned rug that soften the architectural rigor. Floor-to-ceiling glazing opens the room to the garden beyond, while a solitary figure at the threshold reinforces the house’s quiet choreography between shelter, light, and landscape.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Material choices are deliberately restrained yet expressive. As mentioned before, corten steel clads the exterior, reappearing inside, most notably in the entrance hall and selected private areas. Its oxidised surface echoes the remnants of the former factory and provides a chromatic counterpoint to the raw concrete that dominates floors, walls, and ceilings. The concrete is left exposed and irregular, emphasising construction logic and material continuity across the house, while timber surfaces, used selectively, soften the palette without diluting its clarity. Throughout the interior, built-in furniture has been custom-designed to align with the architecture, reinforcing cohesion rather than introducing competing elements.

Sustainability is unsurprisingly an integral part of the project’s logic. Green roofs, rainwater collection systems, photovoltaic panels, and deciduous planting work both regulate temperature and reduce energy demand, supported by home automation systems that optimise daily operation.

  • A close-up of an interior corner highlights the interplay between exposed concrete, warm timber framing, and natural light. The sharply angled sunbeam animates the wall surface, turning construction marks and texture into quiet architectural features that shape atmosphere as much as form.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • A close-up reveals the junction between timber cladding and corten steel, where shifting shadows soften the meeting of warm wood and rusted metal. The detail foregrounds material honesty and weathering, reinforcing the house’s dialogue with time, exposure, and the natural processes of its surroundings.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Timber-clad vertical elements punctuate the interior like a rhythmic colonnade, their warm grain set against exposed concrete ceilings. Light and shadow articulate the sequence, revealing how structure, circulation, and material continuity are intertwined to guide movement while maintaining visual calm.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A wider view reveals the timber-lined corridor as a luminous gallery, where slender columns, low seating, and carefully placed objects animate the passage. Glazing opens onto planted voids, allowing daylight and greenery to filter in, softening the house’s industrial palette with moments of domestic intimacy.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A linear living space unfolds beneath an exposed concrete ceiling, where timber columns form a rhythmic threshold toward the landscape. A solitary figure in yellow anchors the composition, reinforcing the house’s choreography of movement and pause, as architecture frames the valley as a lived, contemplative backdrop.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Seen from the interior, the pool terrace appears as a series of stepped concrete planes hovering above planted beds. The figure at the edge introduces scale and stillness, while floor-to-ceiling glazing dissolves the boundary between domestic space, water, and the wooded slope beyond.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A close-up captures bare feet grazing the pool’s edge, ripples spreading across pale blue water. The tactile encounter between skin, concrete, and water distils the project’s emphasis on sensory experience, where architecture supports moments of quiet, embodied connection with the environment.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Filtered through flowering stems, the pool terrace glows in late-afternoon light. Timber loungers, a hammock, and stepped concrete platforms create a layered landscape for rest, while the human presence softens the house’s rigorous geometry with an atmosphere of unhurried domestic life.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

The pool terrace opens toward the valley at twilight, where pale concrete planes and still water extend into the horizon. A young tree anchors the composition, while subtle lighting along the pool edge underscores the project’s emphasis on horizontality, silence, and a seamless transition between architecture and landscape.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • At blue hour, Casa Corten reveals its layered volumes stepping gently into the slope. The infinity pool glows softly in the foreground, while Corten steel cladding and warm interior lighting accentuate the house’s low, horizontal profile, presenting architecture as a calm, luminous extension of the landscaped hillside.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • A closer view highlights the social spaces wrapped in full-height glazing, where timber interiors glow against the dusk. The oxidised steel envelope frames views of the surrounding hills, while planted roofs and trees blur the line between built form and landscape, reinforcing the project’s biophilic, site-responsive ethos.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

At dusk, the glazed corner of the living area reveals the house’s layered section, where a concrete stair slices diagonally through the volume. Warm interior light contrasts with the cool blue of evening, while timber walls and oxidised steel ceilings frame reflections of trees, reinforcing the dialogue between domestic life and the surrounding woodland.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Boldly articulated through abstract volumetric geometry, Casa Corten belies a sequence of deliberate decisions, each rooted in site, climate, and use. Topography shapes the layout, circulation follows the land, and material choices echo the site’s industrial past without resorting to nostalgia. The result is a house that negotiates its context with precision, balancing spatial openness with privacy, and robustness with restraint, offering a contemporary domestic environment that remains firmly anchored to place.

  • A dramatic corner of glazing reveals the diagonal stair slicing through the house, its concrete geometry animated by reflections of trees and interior light. The image captures the project’s sectional complexity, where circulation, structure, and landscape intersect within a precise, minimal architectural language.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • An intimate seating niche pairs leather lounge chairs with oxidised steel and exposed concrete. The subdued lighting accentuates textures and patina, while perforated metal elements hint at filtered views beyond, reinforcing the project’s balance between enclosure, material honesty, and atmospheric restraint.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • Suspended pendant lights punctuate a perforated metal screen, casting a delicate constellation of shadows. The layered surfaces—glass, steel, and reflected landscape—transform a functional divider into a luminous, spatial filter, exemplifying the house’s nuanced control of light and transparency.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

  • As dusk settles, the dining area is illuminated by warm, low lighting that grazes timber furniture and raw concrete surfaces. Reflections in the glazing merge interior and exterior, creating a calm, evening mood where material depth and light define the space more than ornament.

    Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

A bedroom is conceived as a quiet concrete retreat, its raw walls and ceiling softened by low, indirect lighting. A deep-set window frames treetops and distant hills, allowing the landscape to enter as a calm backdrop, while minimal furnishings and art lean against the walls, emphasising intimacy and restraint.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

From below, the house reads as a continuous, illuminated ribbon embedded in greenery. Planted terraces cascade around the structure, while a solitary figure atop the upper level underscores scale and stillness, concluding the project as an architecture that settles quietly into its hillside setting.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

The entrance sequence is defined by monolithic Corten steel volumes and a perforated metal screen that glows softly from within. Set against a deepening sky, the composition emphasises material weight, texture, and shadow, presenting arrival as a slow, tactile transition from landscape to interior.

Photography by Ivo Tavares Studio.

Casa Corten: A Site-Driven House by HPA Arquitetura in Northern Portugal