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Empatia Alvor · Algarve
House with outdoor area and garden, an Empatia Design project in the Algarve

Interior design in the Algarve

Homes designed around the people who live in them.

We design your home in stages. At each one you see the work before deciding on the next, and real figures reach you before any building work begins.

Studio in Alvor since 2021

We start by understanding how you will actually live in the house. Everything else follows from that.

Bedroom with wooden headboard and natural light

New build

You are building

Some decisions are made in the architectural drawings and cannot be changed later without breaking walls. We come in before the design is closed.

See how
Open-plan living room and kitchen after renovation

Renovation

You are renovating

How much, and how long. We answer in stages, and the real figures arrive before you have to commit to any building work.

See how
How we work

Four stages, decided one at a time.

1

Concept

Site visit, survey, base plans, layout and moodboard. Closes with the concept approved.

2

3D visualisation

Materials, lighting and images of the space as it will look, before it exists.

3

Technical drawings

Lighting and finishes plans, bespoke joinery drawings and a schedule of works for pricing contractors.

4

Selection and costing

Final selection, supplier quotes and the full dossier, with figures, quantities and lead times.

Execution is decided at the end of the fourth stage. Building work and furniture are commissioned separately, by which point you have real figures in front of you.

Projects

Before and after

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Living room before the works Living room and kitchen after the design, with slatted wooden panel BEFOREAFTER

Kitchen wall removed so the living area gains the light from the main opening, and a slatted panel hiding the storage without closing the space.

Interior of an Empatia Design project

The studio

We design across the Algarve, for people who live here and for people who come from far away.

Many of our clients are not in Portugal during the works. We handle everything and keep everything on record, so you can follow without being here.

Meet the studio
Start with a conversation

Tell us what you have in hand.

By video call or here, at our studio in Alvor. We will be in touch within two working days, with no commitment on your part.

Talk to us