Casa em Aldoar

What was found as raw material for the intervention was a construction with a language dating from the 60s, which had some interesting spatial characteristics namely the alveolar ceilings, the ladder with its configuration and detail, the proportion of rooms and circulation areas, the design of the interior and exterior carpentry as well as the original coating materials (mosaic parquet, tile, hydraulic mosaic, terrazzo).
The house had a coherence and spatial simplicity that was also reflected in its constructive detail.

Intervention strategy

The purpose of the intervention was to maintain the house's original environment, by restoring some of the changes that had been made in the past.

A reduced intervention in the exterior of the building was also intended, mainly because of the quality of the existing one and to not contribute to an incoherence to the buildings set.

It was necessary to solve a requirement of the client, respectively the connection between the interior of the garage and the common floor (the connection was made by the exterior until the moment of intervention).

The aim was also a solution to introduce thermal and acoustic comfort with these alterations as well as new infrastructures networks adapted to nowadays demands.

Proposal

The main change made in the interior organization of the house consisted in the connection between the interior of the garage floor and the upper floor. It was necessary to proceed with the demolition of the external stairs that gave access to the balcony and to construct another set that connects to the living room. In addition to this new access, there was a need to increase the space of the common room, achieved by eliminating the partition walls between the entrance hall and the remaining spaces.

The intermediate slab was reinforced with HEB profiles that discharged on a column (also in steel), located at the intersection of two assumed structural axes, aiming to reinforce the orthogonal geometry of the alveolar ceiling, only visible by the removal of the false ceiling that concealed them.

In the new foyer created on the ground floor, a large skylight was opened, located on the intermediate landing of the stairs, in order to illuminate this space and solve the transition between the different ceiling levels.

On the first floor, the toilet was reformulated to create a storage area to support the living room, by demolishing the existing stairway.

In the backyard, the step between the patio that serves the kitchen and the garden was maintained, using this opportunity to design a support bench. The central attachment path was removed by constructing a lateral one, leaving the remaining lawn space free of construction.

On the second floor, where the bedrooms are located, no changes were made to its subdivision. Only the coatings, carpentry and infrastructures were replaced. In the main bedrooms of this floor were placed closet wardrobes, in Tola wood, adjoining the entrance door in these compartments.

Regarding the third floor, it underwent a deep reformulation keeping only the configuration of the bedroom and the span of the roof. In the remaining space, an office area was created, on the continuation of the stairwell, with a toilet / dressing room to support the bedroom. The existing skylights were enlarged to illuminate the mentioned spaces.