The lot where this house is inserted has an irregular shape, longitudinal and perpendicular to the street Nossa Senhora da Conceição, in Matosinhos, Portugal. In a consolidated urban area, the surrounding buildings are in most of the cases buildings with a ground floor and attic. The urban density of this road presents buildings with different temporal characteristics, and for that reason, with different constructive approaches, with different elevations, materials, etc., a result of the growth and evolution of this road.
For nu.ma it was important to keep the alignment of the house with the existing buildings in order to avoid formal irregularities in the street development. Concerning the volume, the house is distributed on two floors (ground floor and a 1st floor), which are dissimulated in the facade with horizontal lines to point some alignments with the surrounding buildings.
The interior spatial distribution is separated by function and by floors. The social/ service area on the ground floor is composed by the entrance hall, the toilet, the kitchen, the dining / living room, the vertical access to the 1st floor and the garage. Due to the longitudinal nature of the lot, and the fact that it only detains two fronts for construction, an exterior yard was proposed at the center of the house to allow natural light to dining/living room and kitchen. On the 1st floor, the private area is composed by the bedrooms and their toilets and a lounge / reading area. On this floor, the yard gives additional more natural light to the interior rooms.
Design and info © nu.ma
Images © Ivo Tavares Studio
