House at Rua do Olival

A building of four apartments, one on each floor, is reformulated and transformed into a single-family house. Keeping only the facade, the rest of the building is entirely new. The project emphasises the juxtaposition of two different periods in time, the old facade dialoguing with the contemporary interior. On the outside, window frames are recessed and hidden, so that the deep openings and the wall thickness stand out. At the backside of the building, the large glass walls highlight the significant connection to the courtyard. On the inside, a central volume in plywood defines vertical relationships, accommodates cabinets and bathrooms, and delimits borders. Discrepancies in height between the openings in the facade and the newly designed floors give rise to unique and peculiar situations. The project’s personality is also reflected in the choice of polished concrete floors and the ceiling materials, opting for exposed concrete with the formwork material’s texture (OSB).