The site

The lot, with non-regular shape, is inserted in a consolidated urban area, in Matosinhos, PT. The surrounding buildings detain different temporal characteristics with different constructive approaches, different elevations, materials, etc… not a characteristic street.

Formal and functional constraints

It was important to keep the alignment of the house with the existing buildings. The two floors of the house are dissimulated in the facade with horizontal lines to point some alignments with the surrounding buildings.

Program

The interior space distribution of the house is separated by function and by the two floors. The ground floor with the social/service area (kitchen, dining/living room, garage). The 1st floor with the private area (rooms, toilets, lounge/reading area). An exterior yard at the center of the house allow natural light to dining/living room and kitchen, and to the interior rooms at 1st floor.

Material Used :

1. Etic’s - Facade

2. Hand made steel garage door - Garage and Entrance Door

3. Anicolor - Exterior Windows

4. Lovetiles - wc floor

5. Sanindusa - Bathroom Accessories

6. OFA - Bathroom Taps 

The site

The lot, where the house is inserted, have a non-regular shape, longitudinal and perpendicular to the street Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Matosinhos. In a consolidated urban area, the surrounding buildings, are, in most of the cases, buildings with a ground floor and attic. These constructions for their constructive time presents nonconventional height. The urban density of this road presents buildings with different temporal characteristics, and for that reason, with different constructive approaches, with different elevations, materials, etc… a result of the growth and evolution of this road.

Formal and functional constraints

It was important to keep the alignment of the house with the existing buildings in order to avoid formal irregularities in the street development. Concerning the volume, the house will be distributed in two floors (ground floor and 1st floor), which are dissimulated in the facade with horizontal lines to point some alignments with the surrounding buildings.

Program

It is proposed a house with two floors. The interior spatial distribution is separated by function and by floors. The social/ service area, at the ground-floor, is composed by the entrance hall, the toilet, the kitchen, the dining / living room, the vertical access to the 1st floor (stairs) and the garage. Due to the longitudinal nature of the lot, and the fact that it only detains two fronts for construction, it was proposed an exterior yard at the center of the house to allow natural light to dining/living room and kitchen. On the 1st floor, the private area, is composed by the rooms and its toilets and a lounge / reading area. At this floor, the interior yard, gives some more natural light to the interior rooms.

technical information:

- Architecture - nu.ma | unipessoal, lda - architect - nuno silva

- civil engineer - Rita Espanha, eng. - electric engineer - José Carlos Lopes, eng. - mechanical engineer - Pedro Simões, eng.

- construction - Moura & Dias, construções - photography - ITS, Ivo Tavares Studio

- project details - gross area - 220m2 - year - 2011-2016 - localisation - Matosinhos