Dune House

Comporta’s dunes move a metre a decade; the law protects them absolutely. Dune House accepts the terms: the house is a set of inhabited dunes, roofs planted with native grasses sloping to ground level so that from the beach the building reads as topography, not architecture.

Living spaces invert inward. Rooms wrap two courtyards — one planted with pines for summer shade, one paved in shell for winter light — while a single narrow slot frames the sea. Privacy comes from the section: guests above, family below, both invisible from the lane.

Construction follows the dune’s own engineering. Walls are rammed earth stabilised with lime, thick enough to hold temperature like the ground they rise from. The house has no air conditioning and does not need it; the dune regulates itself.