RF House

Ponte de Lima, Portugal · 2021
House renovation

The renovation of a house from the 80’s had an exhaustive program demanded by the clients: reorganize the upper floor to a more contemporary living and the family requirements; create a new independent two-bedroom apartment in the lower floor; renovate the exterior spaces creating a car park, an extension for a living room and a moto garage, and another one for a wood workshop; and finally improve the thermal behaviour and general condition of the building.

For the upper floor, the main idea was to rearrange the spatial layout, moving the social areas, previously facing the street to the north, to a more favourable position on the south-west, overlooking the surrounding landscape of the Lima Valley. The new layout presents an open space for the social areas, a studio/room which can be opened to the living room, thus providing a more flexible use, plus three rooms and two bathrooms.
The new interior distribution enhances the thermal comfort through passive climate systems (such as solar orientation and natural cross ventilation), which with the façade treatment and new windows, reduce the need of energetic expenses.

On the flower floor, apart a small studio and the laundry which connect the upper floor to the back patio by an existing staircase, we designed a new two-bedroom apartment facing south and the surroundings, with a different material palette: cement-mortar floors, brick walls, and wooden panels.
The project is concluded with the two extensions, in close connection to the exteriors and displaying raw materials on their interior, thus reducing the building costs, and the re-arrangement of all the exterior spaces.

Architecture
Paulo Vale Afonso with Miguel Roque and Rui Santos (RAS·A)

Built · Site Area
300 sqm · 435 sqm

Contractor

INOVLIMA

Status

Built

Photography

RAS·A