Housing Building - Circunvalação I
The subject building forms part of a plot that, in the past, corresponded to an empty space within the urban frontage. The definition of the building's volume was the result of achieving the objectives of the phased transformation of the site, as outlined in the Maia Municipal Master Plan. The project was developed in close collaboration with the urban management services of Maia's city council, resulting in the definition of a new urban alignment for the street front (see site plan). It is anticipated that the street frontage will become uniform in volume from the new building to Estrada da Circunvalação in the future.
Having defined the intervention's volume, the subsequent step was to determine a structural mesh suitable for the various typologies that were to be implemented (T0, T1, T2 and T3). Concurrently, the orthogonal mesh was designed to regulate the spatial composition, thereby mitigating the less favourable orientation of the land registry.
The compositional principle of the building's facades was designed to highlight this same structuring, as revealed in the grid design of the balconies. The balconies create shadow lines, thereby providing a rhythmic reading of empty spaces to the building mass.
In accordance with the aforementioned principle, an identical dematerialisation strategy was employed in the design of the building's contact with the ground, as well as in the configuration of its top floor. The ground floor is configured as a dominant external space, characterised by fluidity of movement and a high degree of visual permeability to the rear garden. Additionally, visual axes were devised to facilitate the correlation between the various spatial elements. The conditions of the building's last floor permitted the implementation of the minimum number of floors specified in the PDM, which was achieved through an articulated approach that integrated the volumes of the nearest pre-existing structures.
The façade is characterised by a perimeter of exposed concrete slab foreheads and two levels of grey cladding, which are associated with the height of the openings. This gives the building a greater sense of horizontality, creating a closer proximity between its scale and the nearby surroundings, which are awaiting a future transformation.
In the composition of the interior spaces of the various typologies, the relationship with the exterior was given particular consideration. This is evident in the inclusion of centred or corner windows (on the last floor), which also "dematerialise" to the interior of the adjacent walls. This possibility of completely concealing the windows serves to intensify the relationship between the interior and exterior spaces.
The construction of the building incorporated thermal control solutions that, in addition to the plastic expressiveness conferred by the thickness of its walls, ensure a low energy consumption requirement for heating or cooling spaces. The two lobbies also contribute to this principle, benefiting the natural ventilation of adjacent spaces. At the same time, they establish connections to the ground floor's visual axes and the side facade, seeking to establish common points of contact between the different spaces of the building.
