Atlantic Courtyard
Atlantic Courtyard is a small coastal retreat organised around shade, stone, timber, and the changing climate of Portugal’s Atlantic edge.
Hospitality
Landscape & Urbanism
Year:
2025
Client:
Morrow Hospitality Group
Duration:
17 months
Area:
1,320
SQM
Atlantic Courtyard
Atlantic Courtyard is a small coastal retreat organised around shade, stone, timber, and the changing climate of Portugal’s Atlantic edge.
Hospitality
Landscape & Urbanism
Year:
2025
Client:
Morrow Hospitality Group
Duration:
17 months
Area:
1,320
SQM
Atlantic Courtyard
Atlantic Courtyard is a small coastal retreat organised around shade, stone, timber, and the changing climate of Portugal’s Atlantic edge.
Hospitality
Landscape & Urbanism
Year:
2025
Client:
Morrow Hospitality Group
Duration:
17 months
Area:
1,320
SQM
Project team
Matthias Vogel
Partner, Urban Strategy
Camille Dubois
Associate, Interiors
Brief
A small coastal retreat organised around a shaded courtyard. Stone, lime, and timber hold a quiet conversation with the Atlantic climate, while the plan makes room for both gathering and solitude.
Site & context
The retreat sits near the Atlantic coast, where bright sun, salt air, and seasonal wind shape the experience of the site. A sheltered courtyard provides relief from the open landscape.
Concept
The plan is built as a sequence of threshold spaces rather than a single central room. Guests move between shaded court, interior, and horizon-facing terraces, choosing different degrees of gathering and retreat.
Materiality & construction
Local stone anchors the lower walls, while lime render and timber soften the upper volumes. Deep openings, built-in benches, and handmade details make the architecture feel close to the body.
Sustainability
The courtyard and thick masonry moderate heat before it reaches the rooms. Solar control, cross ventilation, rainwater collection, and a compact footprint reduce the retreat’s operational demands.
Outcome
The project offers a slower kind of hospitality, one that is shaped by shade, weather, and the pace of the landscape. It is modest in scale but rich in ways to inhabit the day.
Project team
Matthias Vogel
Partner, Urban Strategy
Camille Dubois
Associate, Interiors
Brief
A small coastal retreat organised around a shaded courtyard. Stone, lime, and timber hold a quiet conversation with the Atlantic climate, while the plan makes room for both gathering and solitude.
Site & context
The retreat sits near the Atlantic coast, where bright sun, salt air, and seasonal wind shape the experience of the site. A sheltered courtyard provides relief from the open landscape.
Concept
The plan is built as a sequence of threshold spaces rather than a single central room. Guests move between shaded court, interior, and horizon-facing terraces, choosing different degrees of gathering and retreat.
Materiality & construction
Local stone anchors the lower walls, while lime render and timber soften the upper volumes. Deep openings, built-in benches, and handmade details make the architecture feel close to the body.
Sustainability
The courtyard and thick masonry moderate heat before it reaches the rooms. Solar control, cross ventilation, rainwater collection, and a compact footprint reduce the retreat’s operational demands.
Outcome
The project offers a slower kind of hospitality, one that is shaped by shade, weather, and the pace of the landscape. It is modest in scale but rich in ways to inhabit the day.
Project team
Matthias Vogel
Partner, Urban Strategy
Camille Dubois
Associate, Interiors
Brief
A small coastal retreat organised around a shaded courtyard. Stone, lime, and timber hold a quiet conversation with the Atlantic climate, while the plan makes room for both gathering and solitude.
Site & context
The retreat sits near the Atlantic coast, where bright sun, salt air, and seasonal wind shape the experience of the site. A sheltered courtyard provides relief from the open landscape.
Concept
The plan is built as a sequence of threshold spaces rather than a single central room. Guests move between shaded court, interior, and horizon-facing terraces, choosing different degrees of gathering and retreat.
Materiality & construction
Local stone anchors the lower walls, while lime render and timber soften the upper volumes. Deep openings, built-in benches, and handmade details make the architecture feel close to the body.
Sustainability
The courtyard and thick masonry moderate heat before it reaches the rooms. Solar control, cross ventilation, rainwater collection, and a compact footprint reduce the retreat’s operational demands.
Outcome
The project offers a slower kind of hospitality, one that is shaped by shade, weather, and the pace of the landscape. It is modest in scale but rich in ways to inhabit the day.
Stats
By the numbers
Thick masonry and deep shade do the cooling that plant would otherwise.
Carbon avoided
Emissions avoided by leaving things alone
Lowest recorded
CO₂e/m², by repairing rather than replacing
Energy in use
Below the model, in a sector that overshoots
Stats
By the numbers
Thick masonry and deep shade do the cooling that plant would otherwise.
Carbon avoided
Emissions avoided by leaving things alone
Lowest recorded
CO₂e/m², by repairing rather than replacing
Energy in use
Below the model, in a sector that overshoots
Stats
By the numbers
Thick masonry and deep shade do the cooling that plant would otherwise.
Carbon avoided
Emissions avoided by leaving things alone
Lowest recorded
CO₂e/m², by repairing rather than replacing
Energy in use
Below the model, in a sector that overshoots
Sena Okafor
Head of Design
Sena Okafor
Head of Design
Sena Okafor
Head of Design
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What are you building?
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New journal pieces, projects reaching completion, and roles we're hiring for.