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Architects: MiMool Arquitectura & Design de Interiores
- Area: 1660 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Ivo Tavares Studio
Text description provided by the architects. The intervention area was a plot of approximately 1060 m2 consisting of a building facing Rua de Adolfo Casais Monteiro and a structure extending into the interior of the plot with industrial characteristics.
The main building, facing Rua de Adolfo Casais Monteiro, had four floors, one of them resulting from the use of the roof space, reducing to 3 floors in the building extending to the east. Most of the courtyard was occupied by industrial constructions, leaving only a small open patio.
The proposal aimed at the demolition of all existing constructions and impermeable floors of the interior courtyard, taking advantage of the volume of the main buildings for the distribution of the housing program (14 units) and introducing a new setback floor, clad in pre-patinated zinc, Anthracite color, with concealed fasteners, in order to stand out from the pre-existing structure.
Due to the existing high ceilings, it was possible to introduce an intermediate floor in the original volume, an intervention reflected only in the facades facing the interior courtyard. In the units facing Rua de Adolfo Casais Monteiro, the number of original floors was maintained to respect the facade's design, cleaning and restoring all granite elements, iron elements, as well as the tiles, which are some of the oldest in Porto. These tiles are addressed in Ana Margarida Portela Domingues' doctoral thesis, entitled “A Ornamentação Cerâmica na Arquitectura do Romantismo em Portugal".
The addition of another floor at the rear half of the main volume led to changes in the façade, which underwent a careful design exercise and material selection to preserve the characteristics of the existing language and promote a more cohesive connection with the main facade.
On the other hand, the design of the volume extending into the courtyard to the North assumes a distinct and more contemporary clean design to avoid conflict with the main building's facade. Regarding the courtyard, preference was given for green space, creating some private patios and pathways to the common courtyard, alongside private parking.
