House in Olhão
The intervention consists of the rehabilitation of an old house built in the late XIX century. The building is located within an old fisherman quarter in Olhão’s city center, in a plot with 90sqm.
The house still holds some of the original elements from Olhão's vernacular architecture strongly connected to the local ancient fishing tradition, even after the several changes the house suffered over time, it was possible to rediscover and rehabilitate the original stairs in the back patio; the rooftop look-out and the vaulted ceilings.
After the building was stripped from its construction additions and industrial tile coating was possible to fully understand its original beauty and living quality, seeing that the natural light and ventilation were formerly blocked by those additions. The original masonry walls were found in good conditions, enabling the main structure to be all kept.
The strategy for the intervention aimed to create a dialogue between the existing building and the new elements added with a contemporary approach.
A patio was open where once was an interior room allowing natural light and ventilation to enter from the center of the house. This new element changed the house relations with the surrounding context and turned them inwards to this new central outdoor space.
The new program was arranged around this inner patio in the three levels: on the ground floor, the patio is an extension of the living, kitchen, and dining rooms. An alcove, only accessible from the patio, was created to offer extra and informal space to sleep, read, seat, or meditate. On the first floor, the two bedrooms have different relations with the main street or the back alley and with the central patio, emphasized by an assortment of windows of different shapes and sizes.
The materials used in the intervention seek to highlight the simplicity found in Algarve's vernacular architecture. The flooring in local terracotta tiles 75x300mm, the Portuguese white marble in specific elements, adding some sophistication to the spaces, the wooden windows, and the two wooden entrance doors painted in deep blue with natural oil paint.
