Portugal

Initially, the project involved the interior refurbishment of a studio, built on the roof of a multifamily housing building. When we started the demolitions, we found that the roof consisted of various extensions with different heights and materials of poor technical quality, and the exterior walls offered no thermal insulation.   Thus, a complete exterior and interior remodeling was carried out, with a new metal structure and roof.   Being a small apartment, we opened the space by limiting the compartmentalization to the bathroom and bedroom. The new kitchen opened to the living room, allowed to expand the leisure area, complementing it with a balcony.   The distinction between the entrance area and the living area wa... More

Located in Cascais, this penthouse shares its exuberance with the infinite view of the sea of Boca do Inferno and the sculptural mountain Serra de Sintra.Starting from a deep architectural reconstruction of its interiors, these 995 m2 of pure luxury culminates in a house that flows between the conviviality and the privacy of spaces designed for the comfort of its inhabitants.In all spaces, attention to detail was essential. In the social areas, the soft color palette, the quality materials, the architectural elements such as the stone fireplace, and the ceilings cut with organic shapes stand out.This approach of simplicity and visual lightness extends to the rest of the penthouse. In the suites, the focus was on creating intimate and elegan... More

In the block that was once the heart of the arts district of the city of Porto, represented by two iconic buildings of the architectural spectrum of this city, the Batalha cinema and the S. João National Theater, is located the restaurant Santo. Both its name and the design of the space itself arise from several reinterpretations of the context in which it is located. The theatrical character of the entrance is marked by a brightly lit visor that goes back to memories of the grand entrance to the cinema of the 50s associated with a great social spirit that is intended for this space. On the inside we find a bar in a curved shape as a reference to the Batalha cinema facade. The presence of wood logs at the entrance indicates somet... More

This project; located in Armação de Pêra, Algarve, Portugal; consists in a full remodelling of an existing apartment, for which the client had very precise ideas and several most unusual requirements to be fulfilled. Despite the fact that the apartment is considerably small, it gathers the conditions for a small family to live all its programmatic areas comfortably, without threatening the hypotheses of various and simultaneous types of use, overcoming the needs of its dwellers. Its simple straight lines layout results from the idea of an extremely flexible social area that contains the foyer, the kitchen, the living room and the library, which is also a place to exhibit some personal items, with which the client revels him self to be a... More

A canteen, a meeting point, a place for socialising, a time to relax and unwind... We were asked to make the company canteen just like that, a space where employees could relax while taking a break from work, with the conditions and aesthetic concerns that anybody would have in their own homes. This gave rise to a kind of open space viewpoint, contained in terms of materiality but meticulous in intent and in details. This space is divided into two areas: an entrance area with a lower ceiling, where a multipurpose kitchenette is located, and the actual canteen, with an excellent view over the factory. This multipurpose mini-kitchen rises from the floor and becomes an imposing element. It has all the technical features required of a canteen... More

Exictos (now Asseco) is a reference in technological and knowledge solutions and one of the leading companies in the Portuguese-speaking countries. With more than 400 employees and committed to developing solutions for the financial sector, banking consulting services, IT infrastructure, among many others, Exictos was acquired in 2015 by the Asseco Group. Vector Mais designed and built the new Asseco office in Lisbon, with capacity for more than 200 employees, and also supplied the furniture, lighting, partitions and custom-made carpentries. More

The project consists of the remodeling of a single family house on Avenida Fernão Magalhães in the center of Porto. The intervention focused exclusively on interior spaces, which now serve a new purpose - being a space dedicated to health and well-being. This is how the new CIM - Medical Innovation Center is born. Being a clinic dedicated to enhancing the longevity of patients, it operates in several areas of medicine, in order to present solutions and integrated treatments with transversal medical monitoring - general medicine, cardiology, nutrition, psychology, among others. The intervention strategy involved the distribution of the program among the three floors according to the clinic's work procedure. Entrance is made... More

The project was born from the study of the liturgical Christian space evolution and from an attentive look and comprehension of the complex morphology of the intervention site. A base built by a granite wall extends from the surroundings, sustaining the temple. A courtyard separates functionally the Main Hall from the Church, like an exterior antechamber which inspires the users to silence and recollection. At the courtyard stands out the sky, the sound of the magnolia leaves swept by the wind and the running water. A glass door invites anyone who enters the courtyard to be part of the big Christian family. Inside, presbytery and assembly rise up forward God through the large vertical clerestory which draws the passion of Christ on the wall... More

The project is entitled The Journey and is inspired amongst other by James Turrell's work. “My desire is to set up a situation to which I take you and let you see. It becomes your experience.” 1   The International one-stage architecture ideas competition Site Chapel invited the contestants to develop and submit compelling ideas for the design of a Site Chapel located on the Pessegueiro Island, in Porto Covo, Portugal. “The Pessegueiro Island is located about 250 meters from the coastline, near the old fishing village of Porto Covo, in southwest Portugal. On the north side of the island, one can find the remarkable space of the old quarry where stone blocks were cut from the ground and thrown into the sea in order... More

The apartment, with 98 m2, located in Entrecampos, Lisboa, was characterised by excessive compartmentalisation and poor distribution of interior spaces.  With a simple gesture, the intervention aims to optimize de space. The major change concerns the social areas of the dwelling - kitchen and living room - which were repositioned. Its redesign allows to widen the entrance to the apartment and to get a better use of the available area.  The kitchen and most of the finishings were renewed with the exception of the wood parquet, which preserves the apartment identity.  A piece of carpentry was added throughout the living room and the bedroom, visually unifying the space.  More

A single-family dwelling, a 1500 m² plot of land in Trofa. From Rua do Carvalhinho to the north, the topography drops 2.4 m to the adjacent road to the south, the EN104. In the east, the elevation of the abutting soil rises 2 m above the land. We demolished the old farming house facing the road made of soft stone and clay with a packed earth floor. An urban annoyance. We kept the square schist well, the old fruit tree and the location of the old accesses to the land on the north and south sides.The geometric reasons for the proposal were in place – tree and well. We tried an "S". Then a "4", and we failed.  An "H" emerged, occupying the center of the plot: The "legs" embrace the tree and the "arms" go around the well.The "H" has a soci... More

“I want this place to be my retreat, give me a bed and a bathtub and I’m happy”. This is the brief we had from our client from the project cabanas in Comporta, a small private residential project. The initial project was just that, a 12 sqm bedroom hut with a bathtub, the “intimate module” as we like to call it. Gradually, as the conversations with the client started to develop, a new hut appeared on the project. The “social module”. Then another hut for safekeeping the clients’ car collection. The “service module”. With this organicity more huts started blossoming and at this point - why not a pool too?As local connoisseurs, we based our construction method on the traditional fishermen huts/cabanas as an inspiration for our project. T... More

The place, a few meters from the Obidos Lagoon, is characterized by pine trees and dense vegetation of the Natural Ecological Reserve park to the South, creating a strong feeling of natural closure.The project seeks to emphasize this natural specificity of the location, orienting the main spaces of the house to the south, in order to create a strong relation with the landscape whilst taking advantage of the best sunlight. The most private spaces of the house are located on the opposite side.This configuration defines two distinct areas, daytime and night-time.The daytime area is where the social spaces can be found, such as living rooms and kitchen, with large glass surfaces that allow the visual and functional extension of the interior spa... More

At the end of 2018, Maria Fradinho designs and builds her own office and home, on a 940 m 2 lot, located on the outskirts of Ílhavo, Portugal.The land is located "by the door" of Vista Alegre, a place beloved by the architect, whose name is due to its origin, Vista Alegre Porcelain Factory, one of the most important industries in the region, and the country. It is in this factory that the author is inspired, because "that place so requested."She seeks references in industrial architecture to materialize the dwelling as a uniform body, coated with metallic materials and where the interior is independent of its outer casing.The Arch House follows the continuity of the neighbour buildings, with the main facade ensuring the alignment with the c... More