Blackbird is a luxurious Algarve home all about craft, drama and 'barefoot luxury'

Blackbird sits on its Algarve lot, an abstract form, its dark hued canopies angled as if seemingly about to take flight. It's a fitting name for the residence, a new house design by Dublin and London based architecture studio Odos. With its completion, the firm, headed by founder David O'Shea, is also announcing its new sister brand, development company Maroochy, as the architect recently released the new venture's inaugural home to the market. 

Blackbird: a luxurious home by Odos

Reflecting Maroochy's values and Odos' architectural vision, Blackbird was conceived to be 'rooted in a beautifully crafted, homely, barefoot luxury.' The idea for branching into real estate and the new company was born out of O'Shea's love of brutalist architecture and an afternoon spent with James Goldstein in the Goldstein Sheats house in LA designed by John Lautner. 

Reflecting that, the residence is designed with a strong architectural character at its heart, in an approach that prioritises 'honesty, personalisation, trust, legacy, joy, uniqueness, homeliness, functionality and an unrelenting attention to detail.'

Even if this felt like a dream commission, acting as both the client and the architect in this scheme, O'Shea encountered a number of challenges in the process of designing Blackbird - involving questions surrounding the decision making and stepping away once it's all over. 

'There is this ongoing chatter between the head and the heart. The heart wants it all whereas the head tries to rationalise and put some order on these ‘wants’. The best projects have a healthy sprinkling of both,' he says. 'The separation or letting go of a project is very hard irrespective of whether you are a client or the architect. With speculative developments, the client, and to some degree the architect, act as a surrogate for the future owner.'

He continues: 'As architect and client, one needs to get used to the endless internal rumination’s on “am I making the right decision?” The buck does actually stop with you! As architects we are both dreamers and sellers. Risk is limited to will the client buy our solution? As client/developer, the risk profile is much broader and is more demanding to navigate both physically and emotionally.'

Blackbird is defined by its black, exposed concrete frame and raw interiors, which are counterbalanced by carefully picked furniture and high end fittings throughout - mixing textures and surfaces. Created as the culmination of five years of effort, the house is currently up for sale via Mapro/Knight Frank and QP Savills.

More is to come from the young brand. Maroochy is about to start works on site on a Farmhouse development in the Alentejo region of Portugal, on a site set on a 100 acre estate among rolling hills. 'Biodiversity and solitude are key drivers for this raw luxury living concept,' O'Shea explains. Completion for the next property is due in 2025.

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