The restoration of a rustic house and its outhouses, built in stone, was based on keeping its vernacular atmosphere and organic informality. The design seeks to maintain the existing volumes. The added bodies do not stand out formally or constructively from the original ones, except for subtle movements in the alignments or the odd volume development, such as the one that introduces the small added turret. An outcrop of rock discovered in the middle of the plot became a central feature, characterised by a continuous granite mass which at once builds the house, the outhouses, the turret and the walls. Inside, the ambience softens and wood and plaster take control over the spaces which are simple and sequentially organised, without any circulation areas. The wide entrance porch is reconstructed as a multifunctional living space which highlights the anonymous and uneventful informality of the whole.
project:
transformation of a rural house in areias de vilar
location:
areias de vilar,
barcelos, portugal
date:
house: 2002 - 2006
turret: 2009 - 2011
building area:
house: 137 m2
turret: 37 m2
architecture:
nuno brandão costa
collaborators:
marta reis,
sofia machado,
joanna katherine guimarães
structural engineer:
house: ricardo ferreira da silva
turret: ana isabel vale (abprojectos)
hydraulic engineer:
house: ricardo ferreira da silva
turret: ana isabel vale (abprojectos)
electrical engineer:
maria da luz santiago
(rs associados)
mechanical engineer:
raul bessa (get)
photographs:
arménio teixeira