{"id":642873,"date":"2026-03-09T09:23:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T09:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/642873\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T09:23:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T09:23:27","slug":"mclean-quinlan-gives-family-townhouse-in-lisbon-a-homelier-feel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/642873\/","title":{"rendered":"McLean Quinlan gives family townhouse in Lisbon a homelier feel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scaled-down living spaces and Douglas fir joinery help bring a more intimate feel to this townhouse<\/a> in Lisbon<\/a> that’s been revamped by British architecture practice McLean Quinlan<\/a> and features an artwork by Anish Kapoor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The property was originally designed to host several apartments, but during the 1990s, they were amalgamated to form a singular townhouse.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorDouglas fir partitions help break up the home’s floor plan<\/p>\n

As a result, the home had what McClean Quinlan<\/a> described as “an office-like feel \u2013 vast open spaces, with no rhythm or intimacy”. When the practice began the renovation, it focused on giving the home a better sense of scale and purpose.<\/p>\n

The townhouse is now divided into a four-bedroom “main house” and a self-contained apartment on the top floor that can be used by the owner’s visiting family and friends.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorWooden joinery and furnishings go on to feature throughout the interior<\/p>\n

Throughout the space, the practice has introduced a number of new partitions to help break up the sprawling interior.<\/p>\n

A few of them are slatted to draw natural light deeper into the plan; this includes the Douglas fir partition at the home’s entrance, on which a red disc-like artwork by artist Anish Kapoor has been mounted.<\/p>\n

“The building now has the proportions and texture of the peaceful family home our clients were looking for, balancing practical living with timeless and natural materials,” McLean Quinlan explained.<\/p>\n

\"LisbonA sweeping terrace has been added to the home’s exterior<\/p>\n

The practice went on to use Douglas fir to create an array of other “beautiful yet practical” elements, such as storage cupboards, benches, and shelves.<\/p>\n

The ceiling of the kitchen has also been lined in wood, complementing the putty-coloured cabinetry and surrounding plaster walls.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Concrete<\/p>\n

Bak Gordon inserts green-tiled concrete house on sloping street in Lisbon\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Just ahead, a dining area has been created beneath a grouping of white pendant lamps. Beyond this is a sitting room anchored by a broad cream sofa.<\/p>\n

All three of these spaces have access to a sweeping terrace that McLean Quinlan has constructed on the home’s exterior, allowing inhabitants to be better connected to the lush garden and swimming pool.<\/p>\n

\"LisbonThe garden now includes a lantern-like pool house<\/p>\n

The garden itself has been newly landscaped by garden designer Fernando Martos Estudio<\/a>, and a pool house containing a shower, WC, and changing area has been erected at the end of the lawn among a cluster of trees.<\/p>\n

Like the main house, it features Douglas fir detailing. Its facade is inset with large windows, giving it a lantern-like appearance when the lights are switched on within.<\/p>\n

\"LisbonThe pool house contains a WC, shower and changing area<\/p>\n

This project also saw McLean Quinlan revamp the home’s staircase, swapping its austere glass balustrade for thick batons of Douglas fir.<\/p>\n

The same wood was used to craft the treads and risers.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorThe home’s new staircase is crafted entirely from Douglas fir<\/p>\n

On going down the stairs, inhabitants are led to a ground-floor wellness space that accommodates a gym, spa, sauna and steam room.<\/p>\n

The bedrooms, meanwhile, are on the second floor and all decked out in the same calming, neutral hues that can be seen in the communal living spaces.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorAn array of wellness facilities are situated on the ground floor<\/p>\n

In the top-floor apartment, Mclean Quinlan has taken advantage of the building’s mansard roof, creating cosy walnut-lined breakfast nooks and seating niches beneath its sloped sides.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles-based Studio Shamshiri<\/a> was brought in to curate the interiors here, filling the space with classic furniture pieces from designers such as George Nakashima and Hans-Agne Jakobsson.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorSleeping quarters on the second floor maintain the colour and material palette of the rest of the home<\/p>\n

Other standout residences in the buzzy city of Lisbon include a green-tile home by Bak Gordon Arquitectos that’s wedged between two buildings<\/a>, and the House of Countless Windows by Fala Atelier, which is designed to appear taller than its three storeys<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Jim Stephenson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Project credits:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Architect:<\/strong> McLean Quinlan
Interior design:<\/strong> McLean Quinlan & Valeria Cardoso
Lighting design:<\/strong> John Cullen
AV:<\/strong> Life Emotions
Landscape design:<\/strong> Fernando Martos Estudio
Contractor:<\/strong> XLog Constru\u00e7\u00e3o<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scaled-down living spaces and Douglas fir joinery help bring a more intimate feel to this townhouse in Lisbon…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":642874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[648,1032,1033,171,6029,109937,273499,124,93441,92915,94466,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-642873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-houses","tag-lisbon","tag-mclean-quinlan","tag-portugal","tag-portuguese-houses","tag-sectionall","tag-sectioninteriors","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116198494236003361","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}