9 apartamentos em Álvares Cabral
- Renovation & Repurpose, Residential, Project & Construction
- Porto, 2017
- With Alexandra Morais
- Photography: JMF
The 9 apartments in Álvares Cabral are the result of the rehabilitation and conversion of a bourgeois residence. The building, constructed from 1905, saw its appearance degraded and disfigured over time.
Context
Over time, the building underwent changes and expansions to its original layout, which altered and devalued it. One of these expansions was the complete construction of the original courtyard to develop a bakery industry there. For this, a reinforced concrete slab was built covering the entire exterior space of the building. Thus, the existing garden was eliminated at that time.
As a result of the bread selling business, which would operate for decades on the ground floor, the main facade was "opened up" at street level to create a display window for the store and its entrance door.
Later, the original tiles on the facade were replaced with others, whose shape, size, color, and shine also devalued the building's initial image. At another time, additional structures were added to the back of the building, along with other circumstantial changes. And, as in the previous cases, the devaluation of the original house's image was aggravated.
The Project
Thus, the project for the 9 apartments in Álvares Cabral prioritized the requalification of the building's image and the reuse of its spaces, designating it for housing and local accommodation. In this regard, the street facade was reformulated and rehabilitated to fit the building into the spirit of the street houses and the environment of early 20th-century bourgeois residences. The structures added to the rear facade, which were precarious and highly degraded, were removed. The exception was the maintenance and requalification of the volume that had been added at the 2nd floor level. It was recognized for its construction quality and potential to complement the living space of the apartment defined there. The volume of the old factory was reconfigured for its reuse as housing.
Thus, parts of the bread factory's roof slab were demolished to create uncovered areas. These gave rise to private gardens for the apartments adjacent to them. Therefore, the impermeability of the building's soil was reduced. On the other hand, the gardens allowed the apartments built there to be illuminated and ventilated, providing them with healthiness, thermal and luminous comfort. In the original house's floors, most of the existing interior partitioning was maintained.
However, this partitioning was occasionally adjusted or removed whenever it was incompatible with the comfortable residential reuse of the spaces.
The apartments defined here take advantage of the good natural lighting conditions provided by the large windows of the old building. The planned intervention resulted in eight T0 apartments and one T1 apartment.
Four of the T0 apartments were designated for local accommodation. It is emphasized that the maximum reuse of existing structures resulted in a significant reduction in construction time and cost.
Sustainability
In this chapter, it is highlighted that the project development sought the least possible intervention in existing walls, floors, and roofs.
Consequently, operations such as demolitions, the consumption of new construction components, the reduction of material transport, and the production and transport of debris (and consequent reduction in waste treatment) were reduced, as well as the construction of new elements for the same functions.
On the other hand, the significant increase in thermal insulation of floors, walls, ceilings, roofs, and glazed openings provides energy efficiency throughout the building's lifespan, in addition to the enormous increase in comfort for the users.
In this chapter, the adopted construction solutions always prioritized the use of recyclable materials.
Context
Over time, the building underwent changes and expansions to its original layout, which altered and devalued it. One of these expansions was the complete construction of the original courtyard to develop a bakery industry there. For this, a reinforced concrete slab was built covering the entire exterior space of the building. Thus, the existing garden was eliminated at that time.
As a result of the bread selling business, which would operate for decades on the ground floor, the main facade was "opened up" at street level to create a display window for the store and its entrance door.
Later, the original tiles on the facade were replaced with others, whose shape, size, color, and shine also devalued the building's initial image. At another time, additional structures were added to the back of the building, along with other circumstantial changes. And, as in the previous cases, the devaluation of the original house's image was aggravated.
The Project
Thus, the project for the 9 apartments in Álvares Cabral prioritized the requalification of the building's image and the reuse of its spaces, designating it for housing and local accommodation. In this regard, the street facade was reformulated and rehabilitated to fit the building into the spirit of the street houses and the environment of early 20th-century bourgeois residences. The structures added to the rear facade, which were precarious and highly degraded, were removed. The exception was the maintenance and requalification of the volume that had been added at the 2nd floor level. It was recognized for its construction quality and potential to complement the living space of the apartment defined there. The volume of the old factory was reconfigured for its reuse as housing.
Thus, parts of the bread factory's roof slab were demolished to create uncovered areas. These gave rise to private gardens for the apartments adjacent to them. Therefore, the impermeability of the building's soil was reduced. On the other hand, the gardens allowed the apartments built there to be illuminated and ventilated, providing them with healthiness, thermal and luminous comfort. In the original house's floors, most of the existing interior partitioning was maintained.
However, this partitioning was occasionally adjusted or removed whenever it was incompatible with the comfortable residential reuse of the spaces.
The apartments defined here take advantage of the good natural lighting conditions provided by the large windows of the old building. The planned intervention resulted in eight T0 apartments and one T1 apartment.
Four of the T0 apartments were designated for local accommodation. It is emphasized that the maximum reuse of existing structures resulted in a significant reduction in construction time and cost.
Sustainability
In this chapter, it is highlighted that the project development sought the least possible intervention in existing walls, floors, and roofs.
Consequently, operations such as demolitions, the consumption of new construction components, the reduction of material transport, and the production and transport of debris (and consequent reduction in waste treatment) were reduced, as well as the construction of new elements for the same functions.
On the other hand, the significant increase in thermal insulation of floors, walls, ceilings, roofs, and glazed openings provides energy efficiency throughout the building's lifespan, in addition to the enormous increase in comfort for the users.
In this chapter, the adopted construction solutions always prioritized the use of recyclable materials.