Mário Rocha House
Nelson Garrido

Valongo

CNLL as Architects

Designed as a large volume, with the entry markedly assumed by a gap between volumes, and enhanced by a sculpture panel that follows the entire entry route, the house shuts down the street contact and opens into the site through large glazed walls. A rigorous metric served as the basis for the house’s design and volumetric conception. The program was conceived according to functional requirements, and adjusted to the needs of the project, ensuring through the study of light, natural ventilation and circulation, a succession of different and adapted spaces with different uses.


Thus, the compartments were designed with height differences, gaps and openings of light, resulting in a multitude of volumes that relate differently. On the other hand, there was a particular concern about the limits’ dilution between interior | exterior in the room, kitchen and gym | spa, seen as an extension to the outside through large glazed surfaces, taking the maximum advantage of the site and simultaneously ensuring adequate privacy, achieved through the design of landscape architecture. The house’s continuity and unity guarantee was a major factor in the choice of materials to be used.


The playing role of the shadows on the facades, resulting from forward and indented volumetric ensures greater expression in the elevations design. A vertical wood structure provides the necessary shade, giving a rhythm to the whole East facade, and furthermore safeguarding the users’ privacy. Thus, this solution results in a strong intervention marked by the materials’ combination and sober language, that reconciles the necessary aspects of modernity in the beginning of the century and the formal assuredness and classical expression aesthetics, ensuring a continuous updating of the times.

Project Credits
Architects
Product Spec Sheet

ElementBrand
ManufacturersFocus
Product Spec Sheet
Manufacturers
by Focus
Project Spotlight
Product Spotlight
News
Fernanda Canales designs tranquil “House for the Elderly” in Sonora, Mexico
12 Dec 2024 News
Fernanda Canales designs tranquil “House for the Elderly” in Sonora, Mexico

Mexican architecture studio Fernanda Canales has designed a semi-open, circular community center for... More

Australia’s first solar-powered façade completed in Melbourne
12 Dec 2024 News
Australia’s first solar-powered façade completed in Melbourne

Located in Melbourne, 550 Spencer is the first building in Australia to generate its own electricity... More

SPPARC completes restoration of former Victorian-era Army & Navy Cooperative Society warehouse
11 Dec 2024 News
SPPARC completes restoration of former Victorian-era Army & Navy Cooperative Society warehouse

In the heart of Westminster, London, the London-based architectural studio SPPARC has restored and r... More

Green patination on Kyoto coffee stand is brought about using soy sauce and chemicals
10 Dec 2024 News
Green patination on Kyoto coffee stand is brought about using soy sauce and chemicals

Ryohei Tanaka of Japanese architectural firm G Architects Studio designed a bijou coffee stand in Ky... More

New building in Montreal by MU Architecture tells a tale of two facades
10 Dec 2024 News
New building in Montreal by MU Architecture tells a tale of two facades

In Montreal, Quebec, Le Petit Laurent is a newly constructed residential and commercial building tha... More

RAMSA completes Georgetown University's McCourt School of Policy, featuring unique installations by Maya Lin
10 Dec 2024 News
RAMSA completes Georgetown University's McCourt School of Policy, featuring unique installations by Maya Lin

Located on Georgetown University's downtown Capital Campus, the McCourt School of Policy by Robert A... More

MVRDV-designed clubhouse in shipping container supports refugees through the power of sport
9 Dec 2024 News
MVRDV-designed clubhouse in shipping container supports refugees through the power of sport

MVRDV has designed a modular and multi-functional sports club in a shipping container for Amsterdam-... More

Archello Awards 2025 expands with 'Unbuilt' awards categories
9 Dec 2024 Archello Awards
Archello Awards 2025 expands with 'Unbuilt' project awards categories

Archello is excited to introduce a new set of twelve 'Unbuilt' project awards for the Archello Award... More