ARDE Arquitetura + Design brilliantly constructs a new environment in an empty, wounded space with hardly any references, creating an extension of the existing construction entirely of solid, handmade bricks, as a buttress that closes the wound of the damaged wall of the house, linking the new construction method with the potter's craftsmanship.
The renovated areas are a warehouse, a kitchen, a bathroom and a pottery workspace, achieving that the complex is endowed with an industrial character that gives prominence to brick and clay, materials linked to the earth, which are a tribute to the adjacent hillside.
The project improves the relationship of the existing building with its surroundings while reorganizing the landscape along with the main entrance. In this way, integrating two ramps creates a softer connection between the building, the nearby environment and Quinta da Estrela.
Olaria Municipal by ARDE Arquitetura + Design. Photograph by Ivo Tavares Studio.
Project description by ARDE Arquitetura + Design
The project is located in Quinta da Estrela which occupies a valley in Odemira, a landscape significantly altered over the last three decades. The slope surrounding the Quinta da Estrela house was removed to make way for a parking lot, isolating the building and causing structural issues due to the excavation.
The intervention and rehabilitation proposal adapts the pottery program to the building without altering the existing construction and creates an adjacent volume for the location of kilns and technical areas. The rehabilitated areas of the existing building include a store, a kitchen, a toilet, and the potter's workspace. The proposed expansion serves as a buttress to the damaged wall of the house. It is entirely made of handmade solid brick, aligning the new construction method with the craftsmanship of the potter.
The simple form of the expansion makes the brick and the clay the protagonist of this new construction, giving it an industrial character while linking the material to the earth as a memorial to the excavated hillside.
To enhance the building's relationship with its surroundings, the landscape next to the main entrance was redesigned, and two ramps were integrated to create a smoother connection between the building, the town, and Quinta da Estrela.
