Case study · new build

Encosta Dourada

A house still being built. We came in with the walls in bare blockwork, which is why there are still decisions that can be made.

Projects · Encosta Dourada

Project: Four-bedroom house, new build
Location: Pêra, Silves
Scope: Full interior design
Status: In progress

We came in while the house was being built

The architecture and the construction are someone else's.

We received the architectural drawings in April 2026 and our work began there: understanding how the house would be lived in and turning that into decisions the contractor could execute without stopping.

The clients live outside Portugal and come over occasionally. Much of the project was decided by video call, and the site visits are ours.

Interior of the house in bare blockwork, slab exposed with markings — The house in July 2026, slab exposed and markings on the floor.

Interior in bare blockwork with the opening onto the landscape — The stage at which most interior decisions still cost little.

Technical drawings

This is not a moodboard.

Fifteen sheets at 1:120, with layout, electrics, water and waste, lighting and ventilation. It is what lets the contractor chase walls in the right place rather than wherever, and puts the socket by the bed on the right side of the bed. The drawings were updated more than once during the works.

Technical drawing sheet, layout plan — Layout plan, 1:120.

Technical drawing sheet, electrical plan — Electrical plan, every point dimensioned.

Decisions already taken

No choice was made from a loose sample.

Materials and finishes were presented at a meeting in July and approved after the clients saw them applied in 3D.

Flooring: 60x60 ceramic, anti-slip version outside
Bedrooms: Vinyl throughout, by the clients' decision
Walls: Warm white
Metals: Brushed anthracite
Kitchen: Framed doors, Dekton worktop
Bathrooms: Walk-in showers and natural wood units
Doors and frames: Doors in RAL 9001, entrance and window frames in anthracite
Exterior: Pool in 15x15 tiles and composite decking

How it will look

These are the images the building work has to match.

The 3D images were produced with these materials applied and approved in September 2026. The exterior is part of the same project: pool, deck, lawn and lighting were designed at the same time as the interior, so that house and plot read as one thing.

3D image of dining and kitchen with stone island — Dining and kitchen.

3D image of the living area with stone wall and fireplace — Living area, open to the terrace.

3D image of a bedroom with botanical wallpaper — Bedroom with botanical wallpaper.

3D image of a bedroom with wooden panel and upholstered headboard — Bedroom with wooden panel.

On this house we came in with the architecture already closed

We prefer to come in earlier, while the house is still a drawing.

It can be done this way, and it was. But by the time we arrived, decisions had been taken, and from then on they are either accepted as they are or changed at the cost of building work.

The decisions that shape an interior permanently are taken in the architectural drawings, long before there are any walls. Correcting any of them on paper costs a conversation. Correcting them after the wall is closed costs chasing, materials, labour, painting and time on site.

The four stages, in real time

In a house still being built, the order matters.

ConceptComplete

Reading of the architectural drawings, site survey, layout worked with the clients by video call and materials proposal.

3D visualisationComplete and approved

The house built in 3D with the chosen materials. Approved in September 2026.

Technical drawingsDelivered, being updated

Fifteen sheets of layout, electrics, water, lighting and ventilation, revised whenever the works required.

Selection and costingIn progress

Finishes, quantities and supplier quotes, closed with the contractor as the works advance.

You are building and there is still time

The moment to talk to us is before the walls close.

If you have a house under construction in the Algarve, the earlier we come in, the more gets settled on paper rather than on site. We will be in touch within two working days, with no commitment on your part.

Talk to us