PROJECT DESCRIPTION
"The Antero de Quental 138 building is located in Porto, in the street that grants it its name. The project focuses on a harmonious relationship between the rehabilitation of the original building, dating back to the 19th century, and a contemporary interpretation of its components, while optimizing the interior space.
The program combines commercial use, located on the entrance floor and accessible through the main street, and housing, including different typologies dispersed through the remaining four storeys.
The project respects the perimeter of the original building, adding two storeys (one of them being recessed) to the existing three, ensuring a better integration within the urban surroundings. Constructively, due to their poor conservation state, the original floor slabs were replaced by wooden floor slabs, emulating the ambiance of 19th-century buildings. This is the guiding principle that runs throughout the entire project: using construction methods that emulate and redesign the original, replicating it in the new floors and adjusting it to the planned typologies.
The main façade is east-facing and maintains its original features – the existent windows and stonework were kept and reproduced in the above storeys – as well as the rehabilitated window guards and entrance door. On the other hand, the rear façade, west-facing, is redesigned to assert a cohesive composition through the usage of the same elements featured in the main façade. Additionally, it reconfigures the relation with the backward, that was turned into a shared patio. Both facades are coated with a light grey plaster that helps integrate the building into its surroundings, strengthening a visual sense of balance.
The main access is done through a hall that connects both to the back patio and to the main staircase that leads up to the apartments. The staircase kept its original place, centered within the floor plan, which allows for two typologies per floor. The existing space is optimized to fit two T1 on the first and second floors, and two T2 duplex on the last two floors.
Inside the apartments, the color white is utilized as the predominant color to create uniformity throughout every room. It is complemented by wood, an essential part of the project, used both as a structural element and as a finish. The load-bearing walls of the pre-existent floors were whitewashed as a way to preserve the natural granite stone. The new floors have plasterboard walls making the transition between old and new; yet still painted white to keep the overall cohesive look.
The structural metric takes an important role in spatial organization, tracing alignments and guidelines throughout the building that help compartmentalize and define the different rooms. The finishes respond to the harmony of a simple palette: flooring, slabs and exposed beams in natural wood, white walls and microcement bathrooms. "
The program combines commercial use, located on the entrance floor and accessible through the main street, and housing, including different typologies dispersed through the remaining four storeys.
The project respects the perimeter of the original building, adding two storeys (one of them being recessed) to the existing three, ensuring a better integration within the urban surroundings. Constructively, due to their poor conservation state, the original floor slabs were replaced by wooden floor slabs, emulating the ambiance of 19th-century buildings. This is the guiding principle that runs throughout the entire project: using construction methods that emulate and redesign the original, replicating it in the new floors and adjusting it to the planned typologies.
The main façade is east-facing and maintains its original features – the existent windows and stonework were kept and reproduced in the above storeys – as well as the rehabilitated window guards and entrance door. On the other hand, the rear façade, west-facing, is redesigned to assert a cohesive composition through the usage of the same elements featured in the main façade. Additionally, it reconfigures the relation with the backward, that was turned into a shared patio. Both facades are coated with a light grey plaster that helps integrate the building into its surroundings, strengthening a visual sense of balance.
The main access is done through a hall that connects both to the back patio and to the main staircase that leads up to the apartments. The staircase kept its original place, centered within the floor plan, which allows for two typologies per floor. The existing space is optimized to fit two T1 on the first and second floors, and two T2 duplex on the last two floors.
Inside the apartments, the color white is utilized as the predominant color to create uniformity throughout every room. It is complemented by wood, an essential part of the project, used both as a structural element and as a finish. The load-bearing walls of the pre-existent floors were whitewashed as a way to preserve the natural granite stone. The new floors have plasterboard walls making the transition between old and new; yet still painted white to keep the overall cohesive look.
The structural metric takes an important role in spatial organization, tracing alignments and guidelines throughout the building that help compartmentalize and define the different rooms. The finishes respond to the harmony of a simple palette: flooring, slabs and exposed beams in natural wood, white walls and microcement bathrooms. "
