Architect Nicholas Burns has hidden a chapel made from concrete amongst trees and granite boulders on a large private estate in northern Portugal.
Fittingly named Chapel and Meditation Room, the project was commissioned by the estate's owners who wanted a space for both private and group reflection within the grounds.
Australian-born and Bali-based architect Burns was given full rein on its design and location within the thirty-hectare site.
Above: Burns nestled the concrete chapel within a Portuguese estate. Top image: it is made from concrete
Burns decided to build the chapel on a knoll bounded by gullies and covered in rocks and dense foliage, which grants it a protective and isolated feeling.
Its form responds directly to this setting, with a curving exterior that slots between the boulders and tree trunks. While minimising damage to nature, this is hoped to make the chapel appear as part of the landscape. It is positioned atop an isolated knoll
"The idea that the landscape will grow around and envelope the building over time and become part of it," Burns told Dezeen.
"The volumes of the various spaces were constrained by the location of the boulders and trees," he continued.
"The height was determined by the height of the trees growing in a few years and becoming taller, concealing the highest point of the building."
The chapel is entered by a weathered-steel box
Burns chose concrete as the primary material for the Chapel and Meditation Ro...