No Barriers

Manuel Aires Mateus' work on boutique hotel Pa.te.os, in Portugal's Alentejo region, showcases the art of designing a luxury property that fits right into its wild, untouched environment.

- Arista Kwek

Four single-storey houses washed in an unassuming neutral palette. Stately, sculptural, and firmly concrete. A stark contrast to the miles and miles of sheep-filled fields and pale brown cork trees crowned with lush, dark green leaves, that you’ve driven past to get here. And yet, for some reason, these buildings feel right at home like the verdant flora that surround them.

The lay of the land

A project borne from their love for hospitality, Pa.te.os is the brainchild of husband-and-wife duo Miguel and Sofia Charters, co-founders of Portuguese real estate company Primosfera.

When the Charters’ long-time collaborator and friend, architect Manuel Aires Mateus of architectural firm Aires Mateus, received the brief for Pa.te.os, it was simple: To create a comfortable and luxurious abode that was authentic to its surroundings.

For Mateus, immersing himself in the tranquillity and sprawling beauty of Alentejo – located in south-central Portugal – brought his awareness to complexities behind the brief. On top of capturing the quiet charm that hums throughout the region, he also had to find a way to respect the natural topography of the 80-hectare land – cork trees are protected in Alentejo.

Additionally, for Mateus, whose previous works include residential, hospitality, and public space projects, adopting a site-sensitive methodology to his works has always been paramount. “[Our firm] approaches each project as if it were our very first. It helps to keep our perspective unique,” Mateus shares. To that end, Mateus wanted his design to fit right into the architectural and natural landscape of the area.