Bringing back to life a former business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G
16/02/2023.
[Sintra] Portugal
metalocus, OSCAR A. SÁNCHEZ
metalocus, OSCAR A. SÁNCHEZ
The house renovation by Arquitectura-G is located in the municipality of Sintra belonging to one of the districts of the Lisbon metropolitan area, located on the Portuguese Riviera. In a mountainous area, full of green landscapes and exceptional buildings that are World Heritage Sites, in this context an old commercial building is renovated to transform it into a residential building for the Quinta da Ponte complex.
This is the first of a row of buildings to be transformed. Located in a hillside area, the buildings were characterized by having two floors visible from the street, but due to the slope, only one from the rear. The two floors of the old building were independent, the lower one normally dedicated to shops that would only have been on the main façade and the upper one dedicated to housing. The architects proposed a programmatic and functional investment, without altering its volumetry.
This is the first of a row of buildings to be transformed. Located in a hillside area, the buildings were characterized by having two floors visible from the street, but due to the slope, only one from the rear. The two floors of the old building were independent, the lower one normally dedicated to shops that would only have been on the main façade and the upper one dedicated to housing. The architects proposed a programmatic and functional investment, without altering its volumetry.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
First floor. Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G.
Ground floor. Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G.
Seccion. Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G.
Arquitectura-G, opening two backyards, manages to invert the functionality of the original buildings and their interior-exterior relationship, without modifying their volume or structure. The condition of the façades is also reformulated, the one that was previously the main one and faced a narrow street with an "even narrower sidewalk", with passing traffic, becomes a secondary façade, when it is opened and the building is accessed from the interior of the plot of the complex, centring the activity in the interior of the urbanization.
The upper floor houses the entire common program, opening up to the urbanization with four large windows, two of which connect the upper floor and the ground floor, forming two patios. The lower floor, where the bedrooms and their bathrooms are located, is presided over by a staircase crowned by the kitchen that articulates the space.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
The upper floor houses the entire common program, opening up to the urbanization with four large windows, two of which connect the upper floor and the ground floor, forming two patios. The lower floor, where the bedrooms and their bathrooms are located, is presided over by a staircase crowned by the kitchen that articulates the space.
Bringing back to life an old business. Tenant House by Arquitectura-G. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Description of project by Arquitectura-G
This was the first building to be transformed at the Quinta da Ponte complex. It is part of a row of buildings along the perimeter wall of the estate, and their sunken ground floor spaces, having been excavated in the terrain, were previously small shops that only opened onto the main façade. This building's upper floor, which could not be accessed from the one below, was a single-floor apartment mostly cut off from the estate.
The aim of this project was to invert the building's original function both in terms of the interior space and its relation with the exterior yet without changing the volume, in order to preserve the rows' uniformity. The main façade looks onto a narrow street with an even narrower pavement, with traffic going by. This façade is now reformulated as the rear one, in an attempt to open up the building onto the estate instead, both visually and with regards to its function. The upper floor has four large window bays, two of which also reach down to the ground floor, forming two patios. This means that the bedrooms can be moved downstairs, along with the wet rooms; thus, the main upper floor, which is now completely freed up, becomes a large shared space with a connection to the estate. In turn, it is presided over by a staircase crowned by the kitchen that articulates the space.
More information
Architects
Dates
2020-2022.
Location
Sintra, Lisbon district. Portugal.
Photography
Jonathan Arnabat, Jordi Ayala-Bril, Aitor Fuentes, Igor Urdampilleta. Arquitectura-G
Arquitectura-G is a studio of architecture founded in 2006 based in Barcelona, by Jonathan Arnabat, Jordi Ayala-Bril, Aitor Fuentes and Igor Urdampilleta, mainly dedicated to construction and teaching. They understand their work as a team, where individualities are dissolved in an addition of ways of doing. Material aspect is fundamental for the them, seing it as a field of research. Currently the office includes small projects and starts a new stage to approach larger projects.
In 2008 created ESCRITOS-G as learning tool and to improve the business, with the desire to create a critical discourse and trigger discussion about contemporary architecture. It is a serie of conversations about architecture held between members of ARCHITECTURE-G, the philosopher Ekhi Lopetegi and several young architects whose work has sparked interest in the profession, society and the media.
In 2011 launched INDOORS a section focused on reformulation and internal reorganization of urban housing adapted to living contemporary culture.
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