yinjispace

BRAND
Pa.te.os
DESIGNER
Aires Mateus Architecture
PHOTOGRAPHY
Francisco Nogueira
João Guimares
Chess Bonte
Lucas Santiago
BIJISPACE边界人
WORDS
Bingyi
Collection

Deep in the countryside along the Alentejo coast of Portugal, facing the Atlantic Ocean, the land opens up naturally. Pa.te.os exists here quietly, without insistence.

The origin of Pa.te.os was not conceived as a hotel project. It began as something deeply personal. As founders Miguel and Sofia recall, “It all began with a vision — to create an intimate retreat, a place where family and friends could gather and celebrate life’s most meaningful moments.”

As this vision continued to evolve, its boundaries and significance gradually expanded. It no longer served only private life, but slowly unfolded into a way of hosting — not through service protocols, but through an authentic, elegant, and restrained spatial condition, and through a sincere, deep connection with the land. Hospitality is redefined here in a way that allows people to naturally slow down. From architecture to atmosphere, every element and every detail responds to the understated and quiet character of Alentejo, as well as to a way of living that feels closer to everyday life. At Pa.te.os, the word “hotel” becomes less important. What matters more is how life is lived here.

When this place was first discovered along the Alentejo coast, what remained was not a specific image, but a clear and immediate feeling: freedom, peace, nature, and the constant presence of the ocean. For this reason, it became a landscape to return to, again and again.

Before considering how to transform this land into a place to inhabit, it was essential to clarify who would undertake this journey together. A long-standing collaboration with architect Manuel Aires Mateus, built over nearly two decades, made working together again an entirely natural choice.

In this design, several principles were clearly defined from the outset: architecture must respect and respond to the land itself. The orientation, placement, and height of each house begin with the existing topography, minimizing disturbance to the natural ecosystem. All houses open toward the Atlantic Ocean, allowing guests to experience expansive ocean views, almost within reach. At the same time, differences in elevation and careful layout ensure complete privacy between each house.

Today, Pa.te.os consists of four contemporary houses set within this landscape. They are dispersed across the undulating terrain, rather than forming a single monumental architectural composition. Each exists as part of the natural land, maintaining distance from one another. When guests are inside their own house or courtyard, they neither see nor sense the presence of others. This condition of “sharing the landscape while remaining protected” forms an essential part of Pa.te.os’s understanding of home: quiet, inward-looking, yet not closed off.

The name “Pa.te.os” comes from the Portuguese word pátios, meaning courtyards. Conceived as a series of architectural pieces scattered across the vast land, Pa.te.os embeds nature into the living space through the idea of the courtyard. As the founders describe it, “Each patio is a way of extending your time in nature — it is both a refuge and a shelter.”

Here, courtyards are not secondary or auxiliary spaces, but the core element organizing the relationship between life and nature. They draw the outdoors into the interior and allow the interior to return outward. They provide shade and protection, creating natural cooling during the hot summer months, while offering a sense of privacy and ease that can only be found at home. Light moves slowly across the courtyards, and shadows shift with time. Spaces are not connected by corridors or entrances, but through air, light, perception, and subtle exchanges with nature. It is through these continuous connections that Pa.te.os establishes its own rhythm, allowing life to unfold naturally.

At Pa.te.os, experience is not shaped through overt design gestures. Instead, it is gradually awakened at a sensory level, co-created with the natural environment, culture, and rhythm of Melides. Architectural scale is first perceived visually; bare concrete, solid oak, and shale stone establish a tactile relationship with the body; subtle scents carry the surrounding trees and ocean; and farm-to-table cuisine translates local terroir into taste.

Recognising the power of scent to evoke memory, a signature fragrance was imagined as an integral part of this sensorial landscape. British perfumer Lyn Harris was invited to create an olfactory expression of Pa.te.os — one that captures the purity of the sea breeze merging with pine trees, intersecting with the materials of the project: wood, slate, concrete, and hints of sea moss. As Harris reflects, it is “a magical feeling you won’t be able to uncover anywhere else.” In this way, the atmosphere of Pa.te.os continues beyond the stay, carried quietly through smell, memory, and return.

Memory, too, is formed within this uninterrupted state — not through spectacle, but through attention.

Pa.te.os approaches hospitality as a form of private invitation rather than a rigid service system. There is no emphasis on prescribed rhythms; instead, time and circulation are deliberately loosened. The intention is simple: to make people feel at home — not only physically, but emotionally.

Many of the frameworks imposed by traditional hotels, both spatial and emotional, are gently dismantled. Everything revolves around how experience is carried: how elements on site flow naturally, and how moments of daily life are held with greater comfort and meaning. Food remains equally essential. Through gastronomy, guests are invited to discover the local terroir, enjoying seasonal and balanced meals that encourage sharing and connection. Through smell, taste, touch, sight, and sound, memories begin to linger over time.

This same philosophy extends into wellbeing. Pa.te.os invites guests to unwind and prioritise their health through experiences that feel as unforced as the landscape itself — restorative massages and personalised treatments, yoga practices that unfold indoors or beneath open skies, cold plunges taken in the privacy of one’s patio, and sound healing sessions at sunrise or sunset. These moments are not staged, but offered gently, allowing the body and mind to reset in rhythm with nature.

At Pa.te.os, freedom of space and time becomes tangible. Life follows the natural cycles of the land and ocean rather than the clock. Days become slower and more intentional: a quiet morning facing the sea, a shared meal, a treatment, or simply watching light move across the landscape. There is time to value pauses and reflection, to celebrate small joys.

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