Italian architecture practice Mezzo Atelier has transformed old barn into a pair of guesthouses, featuring different hues of pink and yellow.

Called Pink House, the house is situated in the Atlantic island of São Miguel, in the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal. The building was previously used as a stable and the architects were commissioned to convert the old barn into two guesthouses. 

The studio, led by Giacomo Mezzadri and Joana Oliveira wanted to keep the original character of the building by adding a new volume on top of it. 

The news guesthouses should have reflected a place where history and contemporaneity coexist in balance. So the overall volume creates a striking contrast between the old stone walls and the new structure completely painted with pink colour. 

"The design's main goal was to keep the construction’s character, lines, and its rural atmosphere, while adapting the enclosed structure to a completely new typology and contemporary regulations," said the architects. 

The studio opened new openings where carefully shredded in the colored façades, as well as on the stone wall. A new volume was added during the main construction, allowing for a smaller house to appear integrated in the whole.

The program of the house is scattered in two levels: the ground floor opens to the surrounding exterior spaces and reaches out to it's different heights, creating a semi-level floor where a social space gives access to the private suites and service area. 

The upper floor contains the social spaces and it was designed as a free plan so it could be taken advantage of the roof's structure and it's full height. From the ochre kitchen there’s an access to a terrace situated on top of the smaller ground floor house.

The architects added new elements to the house, such as the exterior stairs, connecting the outdoor terrace, or the use of whitened wood in the interiors, are re-interpretations of the Azorean vernacular architecture, which was important to dignify. 

The aged pink and ochre tones are the main identity of the area where the building sits. The ochre was traditionally used to frame windows and doors, at Pink House it was used instead on the bedrooms interior shades and kitchen, adding a new kind of relation between inside and outside views.

In the interiors, the studio used custom made furniture in order to create a neutral and peaceful atmosphere, allowing the garden views to be prominent on the inside spaces. 

They used local cryptomeria wood (known as Japanese cedar) abundantly for construction and furniture and old wooden beams of pine and acacia, found on site were converted into custom made tables.

Image © Rui Soares

Site plan

Ground floor plan

1st floor plan

Section A

Section B

South elevation

North elevation

East elevation

North elevation

Project facts

Architecture, interior design and product design: Mezzo Atelier
Team: Joana de Oliveira, Giacomo Mezzadri
Construction: Arco Mais

All images © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG unless otherwise stated.

All drawings © Mezzo Atelier

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