S-100 — Studio

Practice notes · Porto, since 2014

Studio

Seven people in a third-floor room on Rua do Bonjardim. We visit every site, draw by hand first, and build a model before anything appears on a screen.

Studio

Varda Hale Architects

Sheet

S-100

Project

The practice

Scale

NTS

Date

10.2026

Drawn

TV / IH

Status

For info

2014 — 07 people — 2026

Pencil, scale rule, tracing paper and an architectural model on a studio desk. AI-generated fictional template image.

Fig. 01

Every project starts on paper, at 1:100

S-101 — How we work

Keep what is there.

We are a small practice by choice. Every project is led by a partner from the first visit to the last snag, and we take on only as much work as we can draw ourselves.

Visit before drawing

We spend a day on every site before a single line goes down: the light at different hours, the neighbours, what the ground is made of.

Keep what is there

Old walls, good trees and sound floors stay unless there is a reason to remove them. Retrofit is the default, not the exception.

Few materials, well joined

Concrete, timber, stone and lime. We spend the budget on how they meet rather than on how many there are.

S-102 — People

Seven people, one room.

Two partners, four architects and a studio manager. Everyone draws; everyone goes to site.

S-102.1

Teresa Varda

Founding partner

Trained in Porto and Basel. Leads design on every project and still makes the first sketch by hand.

S-102.2

Inês Hale

Partner

Runs the technical side of the studio: details, specifications and the site.

S-102.3

Duarte Lobo

Associate

Leads the residential work, including the Light Well House in Matosinhos.

S-102.4

Marta Seixas

Architect

Retrofit and heritage. Leads the granary conversion in Arcos de Valdevez.

S-102.5

Rui Pacheco

Architect

Construction drawings, tender packages and the weekly site meeting.

S-102.6

Ana Belo

Architect & model maker

Builds the timber and card models we bring to every client meeting.

S-102.7

Joana Faria

Studio manager

Fees, programmes and the calendar. Usually the first person you will speak to.

S-103 — Process

From brief to site, in five phases.

Each phase ends with a drawing set you sign off before we start the next. Durations are typical for a house; retrofits run longer in Survey.

01 — 2–4 weeks

Brief

We listen, visit and write the brief back to you on one page, with a budget and a programme.

02 — 3–6 weeks

Survey

Measured survey, structure and planning constraints. Nothing is designed until we know what is there.

03 — 6–10 weeks

Scheme

Plans, sections and models. Two or three options narrowed to one, priced with a cost consultant.

04 — 8–14 weeks

Drawings

Licensing and construction drawings, specifications and the tender package.

05 — Until handover

Site

We are on site every week until handover, and back again after the first winter.

S-104 — Note on the drawing

“We would rather build one good wall than ten clever details.”

Teresa Varda, founding partner

S-105 — Recognition

Recognition and press.

2026

Shortlist — Northern Portugal Housing Prize

Light Well House

Award

2025

“A wall and a roof” — Casa & Lugar, issue 48

House Behind the Wall

Publication

2025

Commendation — Iberian Timber Awards

House on the Minho

Award

2024

“Small Rooms” — group exhibition, Galeria Bonjardim

Two Rooms in Bonfim

Exhibition

2024

Guest critics — final-year design reviews

Practice

Teaching

2023

Feature — Plan & Section, issue 9

Two Rooms in Bonfim

Publication

Issue a brief

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