The territory of the “Caminhos do Romântico” in the city of Porto (Portugal) has unique characteristics, mixing bourgeois houses with popular housing, interspersing gardens full of camel trees and other exotic species and with courtyards but also several examples of industrial archeology. An important part of these routes is made through paths that have markedly rural characteristics, with high walls of the old farmhouses and fountains and old community washing tanks. The intervention is located in one of these paths, more precisely in the path that goes from Golgotha to Massarelos, including points such as the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto, the "Casa da Agustina Bessa-Luís" and other bourgeois houses and houses of the workers.
The entire set is surrounded by a thick patch of greenery and the Douro River is omnipresent in the background. The primitive house, which was completely in ruins, was recovered using the conventional architectural language and techniques of the original historical period. The extension of the building was made on a lower level, taking advantage of the terraces, using wood and concrete, clearly delimiting the addition and the original in chronological terms. All the perimeter walls have been recovered, as well as the retaining walls of the terraces, in addition to the garden, the existing species have been preserved and others have been incorporated according to the specificity of the place. The swimming pool has been designed so as not to change the orography. The overall result turned out to be quite harmonious, with the new elements being added virtually invisible to anyone walking through the «Caminhos do Romântico».
The land extends over three terraces facing east with a four-storey building intended for the more private area. Given the small size of this building, it was proposed to expand the area by introducing two new elements: a volume to expand the living area and a swimming pool. The new volume includes areas for more public use such as the entrance hall, kitchen, living room and pool support structures. It is presented perpendicular to the existing building and consists of two floors, which extends to the east, following and relating on several levels with the terraces on the ground floor, thus distributing different uses such as different living areas, paths, etc. This intervention managed to reconcile the needs of a large family with the conditions resulting from the recovery of the built heritage, in compliance with the specificity of the place and with the Municipal Regulatory Plan itself.
The solution found - the combination of a body in wood and glass - makes it possible to expand the living area of the building while preserving the integrity of the pre-existing structure and without entering into conflict with it, while allowing full and effective communication with the garden. The choice of wood allows, in some way, to eliminate the weight of the relatively extensive expansion that had to be built and to differentiate the contemporary intervention from the nineteenth-century building.
project info
Project name: GOLGOTA
Architecture Office: FLORET ARQUITECTURE
Main Architect: ADRIANA FLORET
Website: WWW.FLORET.PT
Email: GERAL@FLORET.PT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FloretArquitectura
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/floretarquitectura
Location: RUA DO GÓLGOTA, PORTO, PORTUGAL
Year of conclusion: 2019
total area: 600m2
Architectural photographer: Ivo Tavares Studio
Website: https://www.ivotavares.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ivotavaresstudio
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivotavaresstudio
