Portuguese practice Box Arquitectos has completed a narrow, white home in the dense urban centre of Ponta Delgado, with two volumes that face each other across a long garden.
With a site just over four metres wide, the local firm designed Windmill House to require minimal "transitioning spaces" such as corridors.
Windmill House is built on an infill site along a terraced residential street
The entire ground floor is given over to a large social space and kitchen that opens onto a central garden.
"The program develops without the need of transitioning or dividing spaces," said Box Arquitectos. "The only social space of the house gains dimension in its depth when it finds the garden at the end of the space."
A pale colour palette is used throughout the interior to create a brighter look The garden is lined with white walls on either side and a built-in bench along one. Internal social spaces spill out onto a paved patio that surrounds a planted bed.
At the opposite end of the garden is an independent single-storey block housing an additional en-suite bedroom.
The entire ground floor is given over to a large social space
In the main home, a black floating-tread staircase leads up to the first floor, where small landing connects a bathroom and two bedrooms, one of which opens onto a terrace overlooking the garden.
What the practice describes as the "vertical perspective" of the home has been emphasised in the first-floor spaces through st...