Building Insights from Madeira

The shell goes up in two weeks — but that is not the whole story. Here is the real timeline, from foundations to keys, and why six months is realistic.

Everyone worries whether a timber house survives Madeira's humidity and salt. Almost nobody asks what the same climate does to concrete and masonry — the porous walls, the rusting reinforcement, the render peeling after a few years. Turn the question around, and the safe default is not the one you'd expect.

Having your own architect works well when it is set up right from day one. We meet them, share our full system, and add the engineering most architects never get — a solar and climate study that shapes the design before the first line is drawn.

Already have a project? We can build it — and if it is permitted in concrete, we convert it to a SIP house through a shortened procedure, no new permit needed. But whether you should build it exactly as designed is a different question, and the honest answer is worth reading.

A single price per square meter is one of the most misleading numbers in construction. The plot decides more than the building, and the cheapest quote is rarely the same house. Here is what to compare instead — and why the budget belongs at the start, not the end.

People picture a timber house as a log cabin or a frame stuffed with insulation. A SIP house is neither. Solid panels, no cavities, timber kept dry and never exposed — and on a humid island, that difference decides everything.

A practical 12-part series answering the most common questions about building a house in Madeira, based on 31 architectural projects and hundreds of real client consultations.

Go2Madeira's first SIP timber house isn't just a build — it's a showroom you can sleep in before you trust it with your own home.