An architecture and rehabilitation project for housing - Braga - The story of a lived memory.

The architecture and refurbishment project for a house in Braga is full of memories of a building from another time.
To rehabilitate means, among other things, to regenerate, to recover, to restore lost rights or prerogatives.

Bearing these assumptions in mind, the architectural project for the rehabilitation of a house aims to mediate the inevitable weight of the memory that remains in the space, with the new experiences and very personal touch of the new inhabitant.

Therefore, the coordination between existing situations and new experiences and spatial requirements shape the new project, reinforcing its identity and personality.

“...Housing does not end with the order, the project or its construction. Because thinking about the house is also thinking about its inhabitant, and this implies reflecting on the ways of inhabiting it”...
Manuel Graça dias - The house of those who make houses

From the same point of view, the exercise we are faced with in this architectural project for a single-family dwelling reflects the problem of intervention in the existing building, with the history of the dwelling itself and the vision of the new client being inseparable.
For us, rehabilitation is just that. Respecting both sides so that architecture responds to new needs, safeguarding what was once a building by adding the new techniques and needs of the modern world.

As a result, following these same assumptions, the interior redesign of this house seeks a new spatial layout in response to the needs of the new inhabitant.

Functional Distribution

On the ground floor, divisions related to road access are proposed. A garage, laundry and storage rooms are also proposed.
In response to the accessible route to the 3 raised floors, an elevator is provided as an auxiliary means to the staircase.

On the second floor, the bedrooms are set out, taking advantage of small interior patios that, while creating moments, provide natural light. Delimited private patios ensure the necessary privacy for the rooms.

A small room/office, with a glass front, has a Gothic arch from the façade as its moment. The search for the moment in each space is paramount.

In this sense, in the spaces that have arisen, which are still in the architectural project, the concern to reinterpret the old language closely linked to existing carpentry has been maintained. The lexicon for all the spaces is maintained, using carpentry, worked skirting boards, door and shutter designs, panels and ceilings in order to refer back to the original construction period.

Fireplaces, closets and flooring have been designed and planned so that all parts communicate a single language, but with a little contemporary touch added as a result of new techniques and materials.

Every piece of furniture is designed down to the smallest detail.

Each architectural project for housing is duly monitored and licensed by the project approval authorities.