fala atelier inverts the sloped roof for a playful suburban home
Porto-based fala atelier turns the traditional pitched roof on its head, creating a house defined by a gently curved and sharply slanted silhouette that breaks from the uniformity of its residential surroundings. Titled 125, the home sits in a quiet suburb of Matosinhos, Portugal, perched atop a translucent plinth with an inverted sloped roof giving rise to an expressive, sculptural volume. Its elevations are punctuated by round and square windows, green and blue shutters, and a palette of crisp whites and muted hues that lend it the appearance of a paper collage rendered in three dimensions. Within, the studio carefully composes concrete, glass brick, and marble as layered surfaces that intersect and fold around each other.
all images courtesy of fala atelier
the contrasting geometries perch on a translucent plinth
The house takes a design approach that balances precision with idiosyncrasy in its forms, materiality, and programming. A rhythmic arrangement of round and square openings punctuates the white exterior walls, with colored shutters in blue and green animating the facade. Some elevations resemble abstract faces while others playfully evoke paper collages with scattered color fields.
Throughout, fala atelier’s architecture reads like a child’s drawing rendered in marble, glass, and concrete — simultaneously rigorous and naive. Each surface, whether folded, tilted, or curved, has also been deliberately crafted and composed. Walls in green, blue, and black contrast with the muted palette, while the roof’s unique profile challenges the visual norms of its suburban context.
fala atelier turns the traditional pitched roof on its head
mint-green columns are scattered freely across the space
Moving inside, the house continues to experiment with spatial conventions to infuse elements of architectural surprise. Five slender, mint-green concrete columns weave through rooms without following any clear, typical structural logic, with one even standing freely on the terrace, supporting nothing at all.
Spaces shift as you move through them, as the living room opens to the garden and connects to an office above, while the master bedroom tucks itself into a curved corner beneath the roof. Double-height ceilings, angled walls, and additional unexpected moments in the layout give the interior a sense of balance that echoes the precision of the geometries while feeling improvised. As the team at fala atelier describes, ‘the figure of the house is simultaneously complete and broken.’
the house is defined by a gently curved and sharply slanted silhouette
the design breaks from the uniformity of its residential surroundings
located in a quiet suburb of Matosinhos, Portugal
unctuated by round and square windows, green and blue shutters, and a palette of crisp whites and muted hues
a design approach that balances precision with idiosyncrasy in its forms, materiality, and programming
double-height ceilings, angled walls, and additional unexpected moments in the layout
each surface, whether folded, tilted, or curved, has also been deliberately crafted and composed
the unconventional volumes carry through to the interiors
five mint-green concrete columns weave through rooms without following any clear, typical structural logic
some elevations resemble abstract faces, while others playfully evoke paper collages with scattered color fields
the architecture reads like a child’s drawing rendered in marble, glass, and concrete
project info:
name: fala 125
architect: fala atelier | @fala.atelier
design team: Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares, Ahmed Belkhodja, Lera Samovich, Joana Sendas, João Carlos, mp+pp (engineering), Calipa (contactor)
location: Portugal
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