Project name Casa Figueira da Foz
Project type Rehabilitation
Location Porto, Portugal
Status Built
Project area 230m2

Project team Ana Soares, Nicoló Conti, Stefania Bors, Ciprian Buzdugan, Elvira Pérez Pelaz, Vilém Kocáb
Client Private

Photography: Attilio Fiumarella 

This project involves the rehabilitation and extension of a single-family house located on Rua Figueira da Foz, in Lordelo do Ouro, within the Condominhas neighbourhood of Porto. Originally built during the Estado Novo period, the house was a single-storey dwelling with a total gross area of 69.63 m².

The intervention responds to an updated residential programme, expanding the house both horizontally and vertically. The result is a two-storey home with a total gross area of 181.94 m², distributed between a ground floor of 104.72 m² and a first floor of 77.22 m², while preserving the original footprint logic and urban character of the neighbourhood.

Access to the house remains through the existing entrance, which leads into a generous entrance hall acting as the main distributor of the ground floor. From here, the house opens onto the dining area and the living room, while also providing access to a guest bathroom, the kitchen and the staircase leading to the upper floor. The kitchen integrates the more functional spaces of the house, including a pantry and a laundry room, the latter with direct access to the exterior for practical use.

The living area, positioned at the northwest end of the plot, is slightly lowered in relation to the rest of the floor, creating a subtle spatial transition defined by two steps. This space features a double-height ceiling, allowing visual connections with the upper-floor circulation. A large transparent façade opens the living room towards a wooden deck, extending the social area outdoors and reinforcing the relationship between interior and exterior.

On the first floor, a central distribution space overlooks the double-height entrance hall. From here, the layout clearly separates the private areas: two individual bedrooms and a shared bathroom on one side, and the main suite on the other, which includes a private bathroom and a walk-in closet. A secondary staircase provides access to the attic, used exclusively for storage and taking advantage of the volume created by the pitched roof.

The project was designed in strict accordance with the specific regulations applicable to Estado Novo neighbourhoods, particularly Article B-1/8 of the Porto Municipal Regulatory Code. The intervention is based on the recovery, consolidation and reinterpretation of the original building, respecting key elements such as implantation, façade composition, proportions of openings, roof typology and the treatment of outdoor spaces.

The vertical extension follows the rhythm and proportions of the original volume, maintaining continuity with the existing architectural language. In contrast, the horizontal extension is conceived as two distinct volumes, deliberately set back from the original façade plane, with a lower height and flat roofs. This strategy clearly distinguishes the new construction from the pre-existing structure, while maintaining a coherent overall composition.

The project preserves the characteristic typology of the Condominhas lots: a building attached to one boundary, with three façades and three outdoor areas—front, side and rear. As the lateral exterior space is used for car parking, a pergola is proposed to provide protection without compromising permeability and visual continuity.

Structurally, the existing external stone walls are retained, while the new construction is executed in reinforced concrete and brick masonry. The roof structure is entirely new, built in timber and finished with ceramic Marseille tiles. Interior partitions are made of plasterboard, with wooden flooring throughout the house, except in bathrooms and wet areas, where ceramic finishes are used. Exterior façades are rendered and painted in RAL 1013, reinforcing a neutral and coherent chromatic relationship with the surrounding buildings.

Overall, the project seeks to balance continuity and transformation: preserving the identity of the Condominhas neighbourhood while adapting the house to contemporary standards of comfort, spatial quality and everyday living.