Carvalhal is where the coast road leaves the rice fields for the pines. The plot is 1.2 hectares of stone pine and sand, 900 metres from the beach, and it had one building on it: a reed-roofed hut for drying rice seed.

The pine wood is protected, and the licence came with a condition: a water reserve of at least 150 m³ for the fire service. Atelier Brás Pato made it the centre of the house, a pool 38 metres long and 60 cm deep that reflects the long wall and stays full all year.

Walls against the wind

From May to September the north-west wind blows most afternoons. The house is a row of concrete walls set across it, with the rooms between them, so each court is still while the dune grass beyond is flattened. The concrete is pigmented with iron oxide.

Finished in the spring of 2026. The rice-seed hut is still there, re-roofed with reed from the estuary; it is now the pool house.