Rose building – the great exotic interior. This story begins with an old rose building on the riverside avenue of Vila Real de Santo António, a city located in the south of Portugal. The rose-house had a nice and rational facade, but the real treasure was inside.
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An exotic interior with details such as a mermaid painting in the ceiling of a bathroom, a multitude of patterned mosaics, detailed wooden doors, and a big stone sink. It was obvious from the beginning that we should keep and emphasize the exotic interior.
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The program asked for the transformation of the layout from a single house to a five apartments building and gave us the perfect reason to create five different environments that play with site-specific idiosyncrasies of each space.
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A selection of colors and materials, combined with extensive architecture details preservation and the introduction of new contemporary elements, allowed us to create five flats with distinctive personalities, where each one is contributing to a general set that pays homage to the exotic qualities that we found in the original building.
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Project Info
Architects: Aurora Arquitectos, Furo
Area: 353 m²
Year: 2021
Country: Vila Real de Santo António, Portugal
Photographs: do mal o menos
Main construction team: Cervimat
Design Team: Sérgio Antunes, Sofia Reis Couto, Tânia Sousa, Carolina Rocha, Rui Baltazar, Ivo Lapa, Dora Jerbic, Anna Cavenago, Afonso Nunes, Kasia Cichecka + António Louro, José Castro Caldas, Paula Vargas
Construction: Francisco Rodrigues
Building Supervision: Iperplano
Madeline Brooks is a Projects Editor at Arch2O, where she has been shaping and refining architectural content since March 2024. With over a decade of experience in editorial work, she has curated, revised, and published an array of projects covering architecture, urbanism, and public space design. A graduate of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Madeline brings a strong academic foundation and a discerning editorial eye to each piece she oversees. Since joining Arch2O, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the platform’s editorial direction, with a focus on sustainability, social relevance, and cutting-edge design. Madeline excels at translating complex architectural ideas into clear, engaging stories that resonate with both industry professionals and general readers. She works closely with architects, designers, and global contributors to ensure every project is presented with clarity, depth, and compelling visual narrative. Her editorial leadership continues to elevate Arch2O’s role in global architectural dialogue.