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Architects: NoArq
- Area: 162 m²
- Year: 2016
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Photographs:João Morgado
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Manufacturers: Cortizo
Text description provided by the architects. I was engaged to design a 160 sqm house for 80.000 €. “It’s impossible” I said.
Poetry is not a luxury.
I ask to add a little more and I would accepted.
After a few days they came back, they reached to 100.000 €.
The site (Lot 50) area has 390 sqm and it was predicted an implantation area of 110 sqm (a maximum capacity of 220 sqm on two floors).
There is no budget for all that. I proposed a 9 x 9 x 6 m house, two levels, 162 sqm.
The town hall rejected.
In Portugal is not acceptable to build less (?! …) than the predicted in the Allotment Plan.
We start to work on the request to change the Allotment Plan.
The site has the shape of a slice of pizza.
The flat topography didn’t follow the slope of the western street.
The terrain was occupied by vegetable gardens and outbuildings ready to demolish. The level plans divided the program. The social functions and services are on the ground floor and on the first floor the three bedrooms and a toilette. To cut down the budget we identified the more expensive options of a building.
1. We reduced the number of toilettes (only 2 units serving the two floors, one of them with bath).
2. We prefer to invest on the energy efficiency of the building instead of an expense in finishing materials. I imagine the house as a mini-bunker.
3. The same austerity was used to rationalize the available area. In the centre of the ground floor a block of 5.2 x 3.7 m contain kitchen, toilette service, stairs (in the basement a storage space) and the room shelves. Without using partitions, the remaining space was divided.
