Casa do Lago is located in an area of mostly preserved pine forest. The garden is developed as a continuation of the built volumes and also organized as a complex geometric shape, with different areas corresponding to different solutions and, therefore, to distinct functions. These areas, which are closely linked to the built system, form a landscape pattern and work together to compose the garden itself.
This formal, humanised and carefully designed area – the garden – has a clear and visible limit from the rest of the intervention area and is kept almost untouched.
In this garden there are areas for leisure and for contemplation, framed areas and walkways. Most of them are totally permeable and can be divided into evergreen, static or mixed areas.
For the static areas we proposed two materials: wood and stone. Wood is the more used material and it appears in the form of pine logs and lumber. The reasoning behind this move is to recycle the pine logs by keeping their verticality with three different heights in order to create distinct functions: palisades, park benches and pavements. The lumber is used horizontally in paved areas. Finally, the stone, in the form of paving slabs is used in pavements, stairs and walls.
In the mixed zones, we suggest the combination of motionless wood with a living green area to provide two functions: framing and leisure.
Finally, in the green areas, and acknowledging the existing three planting strategies – herbaceous, bushes and trees – we propose spaces with different planting densities according to their potential uses. Planting systems follow the subdivision of the intervention area into two distinct situations: solutions promoting a higher capacity bearing load in the areas surrounding the built volumes; and more intensive use of native plant species which require lower maintenance in the pine forest.
