Project Description
For this land in Póvoa de Lanhoso, district of Braga, there was an objective: to make better use of the natural characteristics of the context, providing greater harmony between housing and the nature of the place. For this, we proposed to carry out an amendment to the pre-established legal rules in the allotment, in order to enable a greater housing integration with the accesses and the existing natural dimensions of the lot. So, instead of a house with 3 floors (basement, ground floor and floor 1), we suggest a house with 2 floors (ground floor, floor 1), and an annex building for a garage.
Due to the existing gap of 2 meters between the access level and the land, we believe that a half-floor entrance could result in a smoothier arrival inside the house. Therefore, from the same elevation of the road, it is possible to reach an entrance hall, at the middle level of the interior stairs, from where we were able to establish an immediate and inviting visual relationship with the living room. From here, you can choose to go down to the social area of the house – living rooms, kitchen and access to the lot’s exterior space – or choose to go up to the upper and more private floor – the bedrooms.
Car access to the garage is also made at the level of the enabling street, which, therefore, allows direct and flat pedestrian access from the garage to the entrance hall of the house.
In terms of exterior material, the intention was to promote a continuity of the traditional construction, through the reinterpretation of the use of stone on the floor in contact with the ground and a lighter and more permeable material on the upper floor.
In cooperation with the property developer, it was possible to achieve formal and aesthetic continuity in the total set of five houses, albeit with certain flexibility in adapting interior aspects to the specific needs of the residents of each house.