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Architects: Ana Coelho Arquitectura
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Lead Architect: Ana Coelho
Text description provided by the architects. Intervention in a set of two 19th century buildings, located in the heart of downtown Porto, creating eleven housing units and keeping two commerce/restaurant units at ground floor level, also taking advantage of the gardened patio at the back.
The complexity of the project resided in the union of the two buildings while trying to respect and maintain as much as possible the existing structure and architectural elements characteristic of both buildings, adapting the interiors to typologies that are compatible with the current requirements of comfort in housing and preparing them for a use that would allow the greatest extension of its useful life.
The design of the main façade was mainly kept as it was, only adding some changes to the roof form and materials. The rear façade was changed according to a contemporary language preserving, however, all the characteristic elements of its identity, such as the masonry structure and the small granite chapel on the top floor.
The interior spaces were designed as a match between classical and contemporary materials, using dark tone glasses and resin floors, contrasting with light tone natural marble and tridimensional colourful tiles.